His former Soviet republic Moldova asks to join is negotiating with European Union start as soon as possible, despite the troops of Moscow on its territory Transnistrianotes Politico in the article, against the backdrop of a pro-European rally held yesterday, Sunday, in Kishinev.

Tens of thousands of Moldovans took to its central square on May 21. Kishinevcapital of the country, advocating the prospect of Moldova’s accession to the European Union.

The Moldovan government hopes that through such activities (meetings) it will be able to overcome intra-Moldovan differences and put pressure on Brussels to start accession negotiations.

“Joining the EU is the best way to protect our democracy and institutions. I’m calling EE to make a decision to start merger talks before the end of the year. We believe we have enough support to move forward,” Moldovan President Maia Sandu told Politico.

However, at the same time, according to rumors and leaks, Moscow may even try to keep Moldova, a country geographically located between Romania and Ukraine, in the Russian sphere of influence by force.

Last February, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian security forces had thwarted a plot to overthrow Moldova’s pro-Western government.

Officials from Chisinau later said the Russian-backed operation could include sabotage, attacks on government buildings and hostage-taking, although Moscow officially denies all such allegations.

“There is an attempt by the Kremlin to turn Moldova into “Southern Kaliningrad” by establishing a Moscow-friendly regime there. […] However, these efforts have not been as effective as the Kremlin had hoped,” said Arnold Dupuis, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank, Politico reported.

Brussels, for its part, announced last month that it would send a civilian mission to Moldova to deal with growing threats from Russia.

Last week, Maia Sandu urged Brussels to start accession talks “as soon as possible” in order to protect Moldova from what she said were growing threats from Russia.

However, given that Moldova has been one of Russia’s closest allies for decades, Moldova knows that its path to EU membership is difficult. it won’t be without obstacles.

“The challenge is huge,” says Tom de Waal, senior fellow at Carnegie Europe, while the frozen conflict over the breakaway Transnistria in eastern Moldova could further complicate matters.

Transnistria is a patch of land along the border with Ukraine and is home to almost half a million people. The area is controlled by pro-Russian separatists and some 1,500 Russian troops are stationed there, despite Chisinau asking them to leave. However, the same area is home to some of Europe’s largest ammunition depots.

“Moldova cannot become a member of the EU. while Russian troops are on its territory,” Romanian MEP Siegfried Muresan told Politico.

But even more broadly, outside of Transnistria, Moscow continues to maintain significant influence in Moldova. Although the country’s official language is Romanian, Russian is widely used, and Russian state media help shape Moldova’s public opinion. At the same time, Moldova depends on Russia to meet its energy needs, which allows Moscow to allegedly blackmail it.

According to a CBS Research poll published in February, almost 54% of Moldovans said they would vote for the country’s accession to the EU, but also about 25% said they would prefer rapprochement with Russia. At the same time, citizens also disagree about who is to blame for the war in Ukraine: 25% name Russian President Vladimir Putin, and 18% believe that the United States is to blame.

Source: Politico