Putin is about to open a sinister new front in his war on Europe
Story by Lisa Haseldine
In recent weeks, the talk in Europe has turned to where, after Ukraine, Russian president Vladimir Putin could set his sights on next. Could that place be Moldova?
Last week, officials in the breakaway Moldovan region of Transnistria set alarm bells ringing by declaring that this Wednesday they plan to convene a rare meeting of its Congress of Deputies to discuss the “dramatic
deterioration” in relations with Moldova. The last time the congress of this unrecognised republic met was in 2006, when they passed a motion to hold a referendum on formally breaking away from Moldova and joining Russia. The fear is that they will try to do the same again.
In his rambling speeches, Putin has made clear that he considers Transnistria and Moldova more generally to fall within his concept of the “Russkiy Mir”. Just two weeks ago, his foreign minister Sergei Lavrov gave a stern address in the Russian Duma, stating …More