Transnistria, a breakaway territory east of Moldova, has once again held Europe in a draw. In a noteworthy statement, Mr. Vadim Krasnoselsky, leader of Transnistria, warned that any armed conflict here would be a direct confrontation between Russia and NATO.
A war in Transnistria cannot be an internal matter for Moldova. It will be the explosive for the Russia- NATO confrontation, and I have no doubt about that, Krasnoselsky said in an interview with TASS news agency (Russia).
The Transnistria region currently has about 220,000 Russian citizens living there, along with a Russian peacekeeping force stationed under an international congress. Meanwhile, Romania - a neighboring country - is a NATO member and has clear strategic interests in the region.
Because of that overlap of geopolitical interests, any military action, even under the name of "supporting Moldova in restoring its territorial integrity", could plunge Moldova into chaos - Mr. Krasnoselsky said, commenting on the proposal from some Ukrainian politicians that Kiev should intervenear heavily to support Moldova in taking back Transnistria, a proposal that Moldova Prime Minister Dorin Recean has publicly rejected.
The ones who promote military intervention are effectively pushing Moldova into chaos, war and blood, Krasnoselsky stressed. I support Receans view: all issues with Moldova need to be resolved peacefully.
Mr. Krasnoselsky emphasized that Transnistria has never threatened anyone and is not the source of military hostility.
However, Transnistria has been rocked by a series of terrorist incidents in 2022 - from the attack with a pomegranate rifle on a security agency headquarters, the collapse of a radio receiver in Mayak, to explosions at a Cobasna ammunition depot, which contained up to 20,000 tons of Soviet-era weapons.
In March 2023, the Transnistrian security agency announced the disruption of a plot to assassinate regional leaders and officials of the Organization for Security and Cooperation (OSCE), with explosives mounted in a car in the center of the capital Tiraspol. Mr. Krasnoselsky accused the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) of being behind the plot.
Transnistria has since lowered its security warning from red to gold, but the situation is still being closely monitored.
Unlike other noisy hot spots in Eastern Europe, Transnistria still has a quiet appearance. But this could be an extremely vulnerable point, where just a small slide could spark a battle.
