Moldova’s Restive Separatists, Russia Worries, and EU Aspirations

In this episode of War & Peace, Olga and Elissa speak with Crisis Group’s Oleg Ignatov, Senior Russia Analyst, and Marta Mucznik, Senior EU Analyst, about Moldova’s increasingly fraught relations with its breakaway region of Transnistria and Gagauz autonomous region, the recent appeals the two issued to Moscow for protection and implications for Chisinau’s EU membership goals. They discuss the shifting power dynamics between Transnistria and the pro-EU integration government in Moldova since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and what the breakaway region’s larger economic dependence on Chisinau and the EU means for the prospect of reunification. They assess Russia’s involvement in Moldova and Moscow’s geopolitical aims in the region. They also talk about how the EU views the situation in Moldova and what Chisinau and others can do to prevent tensions further escalating.

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For more about the topics discussed in this episode, check out our Moldova country page.