Putin vowed to protect pro-Russia Moldovan region Not Transnistria, another one

Russian President Vladimir Putin said this week he would support Moldova’s autonomous region of Gagauzia after meeting the territory’s pro-Moscow leader, sparking further fears of destabilization in the Eastern European country as it races to join the EU.

Evghenia Guțul, who has been in Russia since last week, said Putin “promised to extend support to Gagauzia and the Gagauz people in upholding our legal rights, our authority and positions in the international arena,” according to Politico.

“I told [him] about the illegal actions of Moldova’s authorities who are taking revenge on us for our civic positions and for standing by our national interests,” she added, after meeting the Russian leader on March 6.

Gagauzia, a southern Moldovan region of about 150,000 people, is populated mostly by ethnic Turks and was granted autonomy from Chișinău soon after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Guțul’s comments come after authorities in Transnistria, a more prominent pro-Moscow breakaway territory in Moldova’s east that has hosted Russian troops for three decades, made similar calls to Moscow last month to “protect” it against “pressure” from Chișinău.

Tensions between the two regions and Moldova’s central government have spiked over President Maia Sandu’s strong support of Ukraine and pro-EU dreams. Moldova, wedged between Romania and Ukraine, is set to begin negotiations to join the bloc after the EU green-lighted the talks in December.

But the country’s Foreign Minister Mihail Popșoi dismissed claims Russia could order its troops into the country, despite the Kremlin’s all-out war on Ukraine raging near its border, telling POLITICO this week that Russia’s military power has waned “thanks to the sacrifice of the brave Ukrainian people.”

Separately on Thursday, Moldova’s prosecutor general said he had launched legal action against Guțul, who was elected the region’s leader last year, for unspecified “illegal actions.”