Withdrawal of Russian troops and peacekeepers: Moldovan PM outlines reintegration plan for Transnistria

, 6 January 2025, 17:57 - Sergiy Sydorenko

The Moldovan government insists that the goal of Transnistria's transition to Chișinău's control remains unchanged, especially against the backdrop of the crisis created by Russia in the region.

Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean stressed during a crisis briefing that the country's authorities have not abandoned the goal of full reintegration of Transnistria. However, he thinks this plan should begin with the Russian troops illegally deployed there withdrawing from the region.

"Our goal is the reintegration of the country, which should start with Russia withdrawing its troops, which allows us to administer the region properly. We want a peaceful resolution of the conflict, which begins with the withdrawal of troops," Dorin Recean said.

Recean insists that independent peacekeepers should replace the Russians. Recean explained that the second reintegration step is "the introduction of an international peacekeeping contingent, after which we [the country's constitutional authorities] will start providing services."

The Moldovan PM stressed that until these points are fulfilled, the government will continue "remote" reintegration by allowing Transnistrians to use the opportunities available to other citizens.

"We are trying to integrate [Transnistrians] into the structure of social services, into our business environment, into our market, so that they can export products to the EU and so on – just like the rest of Moldova. We are doing our best under the conditions when we cannot provide law enforcement or governance in this region. But our goal is the full and peaceful reintegration of Transnistria," he added.

The PM stressed one more time that withdrawing Russian troops should be the first step in this process.

Earlier, the Moldovan government said that the energy crisis in Transnistria is part of the Russian large-scale plan.

Moldova has also summoned a Russian diplomat for disseminating misinformation about the causes of the energy crisis in Transnistria.