Natalya Kharitonova: Russia is perceived in a special way in Transnistria

PhD in Political Sciences, Professor at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) Natalya Kharitonova commented to Alpha News on the news that Transnistria turned to Russia for help.

According to the expert, as soon as the State Duma receives an official document, consultations will be held on how Russia will respond to the request.

“The State Duma noted that as soon as it receives an official document, consultations will be held with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the President personally regarding how Russia will respond to requests for economic assistance and systematic support. The resolution contained not only an appeal to Russia but also to six other entities, including the UN, OSCE, EU Parliament, and so on.

In the case of European structures, the resolution focuses on the fact that Moldova de facto infringes on human rights in Transnistria, while Russia is perceived in Transnistria in a special way—as a key participant in the negotiation process, a country that guarantees peaceful resolution to the conflict. First of all, it is because of economic assistance, since due to the policies of Chisinau, Transnistria is facing difficult times and an impending humanitarian catastrophe,” Kharitonova said.

According to the expert, Chisinau is acting contrary to previously reached agreements.

“The problem is that Chisinau is acting contrary to previously reached agreements, which allowed Transnistria to carry out independent foreign economic activity absolutely legally. Transnistria used to feel great, but then its geopolitical position, the closed border with Ukraine, and unilateral customs measures on the part of Moldova led to the fact that the economy was simply suffocating,” Kharitonova noted.

“It should also be noted that this appeal is not of a political nature. This is extremely important because, until the last moment, there were information leaks that Transnistria would turn to Moscow with a request to accept it into the Russian Federation and that Vladimir Putin would allegedly voice this in his just-delivered speech to the Federal Assembly. Of course, this was a fake in the form of a provocation, and it was so contrary to the real interests of Transnistria, Moldova, and even Ukraine that everyone immediately rushed to refute this possibility.

This showed that none of the regional players are interested in this, including Transnistria itself, because in this way it would simply do a disservice to Russia, which would be distracted from the special military operation and would be forced to resolve the issue of the likely opening of a second front. Nobody needs this now. Apparently, having exhausted internal resources, the political leadership of Transnistria decided to make a statement about its problems due to the policies of Chisinau, which de facto blocks the negotiation process since negotiations have not been conducted since 2019 and the issue of the status of Transnistria has not been resolved,” she said.

“In addition, it is obvious that this was a message to Chisinau that if it does not reconsider its violent policy, then Transnistria will be forced to take more drastic steps and make political requests to the Russian leadership, with this inevitably leading to escalation in the region,” Kharitonova concluded.