Leaders of Russian-occupied Transnistria have announced that they have appealed to Moscow for "protection" from the Moldovan authorities. The text of their "appeal" though is kept secret. It is also unclear whether this document exists.

Read more about what was adopted in Tiraspol in the publication by our Moldovan partners, NewsMaker – Transnistria limited itself to hints. Everything about the "appeal to Putin" by Moldovan separatists.

MPs of all levels of Transnistria adopted a resolution at the congress on 28 February, appealing to the Federation Assembly and the State Duma of Russia to take "diplomatic measures to protect (Transnistria) in the face of increasing pressure from Moldova."

It is stated that Moldova has unleashed an "economic war" against Transnistria. This was also mentioned in speeches at the congress.

What "war" do they mean?

The Transnistrian authorities use this term to describe amendments to Moldova's Customs Code, which came into effect on 1 January 2024. According to the amendments, Chisinau has abolished customs privileges for Transnistrian enterprises, which had been in place for many years and favoured enterprises operating on the left bank of the Dniester river compared to their counterparts on the right bank.

These are not all the grievances against Chisinau.

The resolution also mentioned the Law on Separatism, adopted by the Moldovan parliament in January 2023. Congress delegates claimed that according to this law, any resident of Transnistria could be punished (Read more – New Level of Transnistrian Conflict: Moldova Takes a Step to Ruin Pro-Russian Separatist Regime).

MPs also accused Chisinau of deliberately blocking the negotiation process.

EuroPravda's note: The MPs have actually not adopted the "appeal". The congress resolution only mentions that the MPs authorise "to approve and send an appeal to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation" (and other addressees, with Russia being at the top of the list). Who is supposed to adopt these appeals and what they will be about is still unknown. There is not a word about it on the websites of de facto Transnistrian authorities and media outlets under its control.

Moldova remains calm.

But in Moscow, they promised not to ignore Tiraspol's request.

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated in a comment to RIA Novosti that "protection of interests of Transnistrian people, our compatriots is one of our priorities. Relevant Russian agencies always review all requests carefully."

Former Transnistrian lawmaker Anatoliy Dirun believes that Russia can take a whole range of actions primarily in the economy.

"Pensioners in Transnistria receive a pension supplement. Perhaps this is just a guess, but this pension supplement may be increased. Or use some other financial instruments to support Transnistria. Tiraspol can probably count on Moscow to speak more about Transnistria in the public domain and keep the issue of Transnistria on the agenda for as long as possible," Dirun said.

Former Moldovan representative to the UN and the Council of Europe Alexei Tulbure believes that the only measures Moscow can take are diplomatic efforts to resume the 5+2 negotiation's work, efforts in the form of some statements on international platforms from which "Russia has not been expelled" yet. According to the expert, there can be no other actions.

After Russia's invasion of Ukraine, 5+2 negotiations were suspended: Ukraine also strongly opposes it, as it, along with Russia, played a role of a "mediator."

Tulbure believes that the congress in Tiraspol was more propaganda than practical.

But essentially, the emergency congress of all Transnistrian MPs ended with nothing.