Free Republic

Big trouble may be brewing in little Moldova, which is starting to look like a staging area for the European Union to offset an emerging Russian victory in Ukraine. Whether such a plan, if attempted, would succeed is not clear. But Moldova is not the most stable country in the world with the nation split between pro-EU and pro-Russian elements. US troops are now in Moldova with Romanians, ostensibly for a military exercise called JCET 2024 (Joint Command Exchange Training). The exercise started on April 1 and will continue until April 19.

Russia on Saturday condemned as a provocation a drone attack on a military facility of pro-Russian separatists in Moldova's breakaway Transdniestria region and called for an investigation. A kamikaze drone hit a facility belonging to the separatist authority's defence ministry six km (four miles) from the border with Ukraine, the region's security ministry said on Friday. "We regard this incident as yet another provocation aimed at exacerbating the already tense situation around Transdniestria," Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement. The incident was the second of its kind in less than a month. In March, separatist Transdniestrian...

Big trouble may be brewing in little Moldova, which is starting to look like a staging area for the European Union to offset an emerging Russian victory in Ukraine. Whether such a plan, if attempted, would succeed is not clear. But Moldova is not the most stable country in the world with the nation split between pro-EU and pro-Russian elements. US troops are now in Moldova with Romanians, ostensibly for a military exercise called JCET 2024 (Joint Command Exchange Training). The exercise started on April 1 and will continue until April 19. According to a Moldovan Ministry of Defense statement,...

Big trouble may be brewing in little Moldova, which is starting to look like a staging area for the European Union to offset an emerging Russian victory in Ukraine. Whether such a plan, if attempted, would succeed is not clear. But Moldova is not the most stable country in the world with the nation split between pro-EU and pro-Russian elements. US troops are now in Moldova with Romanians, ostensibly for a military exercise called JCET 2024 (Joint Command Exchange Training). The exercise started on April 1 and will continue until April 19. According to a Moldovan Ministry of Defense statement,...

Moldova and France will sign a defence cooperation accord on Thursday as part of the West's efforts to strengthen the former Soviet state's capabilities amid what they fear are increasing efforts by Russia to destabilise Moldova. Moldova, a western neighbour of Ukraine, has a tiny defence budget and has long had tense relations with Moscow, which have worsened as Chisinau backs Ukraine in the war against Russia. Russia has troops and peacekeepers based in Transdniestria, a breakaway statelet of Moldova that has maintained its autonomy for three decades with the Kremlin's support. The French presidency said in a statement on...

Moldova’s national intelligence agency warned Tuesday against "unprecedented" Russian interference as the country gears up for a referendum on joining the European Union and a presidential election. The Intelligence and Security Services, or SIS, released a report saying it has gathered data indicating Russia plans to launch vast hybrid attacks against Moldova through 2024-2025 to try to bring the former Soviet republic back under Moscow's influence. Head of the SIS, Alexandru Musteata, said in a press conference that Russia sought to undermine the democratic polling this year in the eastern European country. "There is information about an attempt to compromise...

Officials in Moldova’s Russia-backed breakaway region of Transnistria appealed to Moscow for protection Wednesday, as tensions escalate with the pro-Western government. ... On Wednesday, members of the Transnistrian congress used a rare meeting in the regional capital, Tiraspol, to ask the Russian Duma to “implement measures for defending Transnistria amid increasing pressure from Moldova, given the fact that more than 220,000 Russian citizens reside in Transnistria." A short war in the early 1990s led pro-Russian forces in Transnistria to declare a breakaway state. To this day, Russia stations about 1,500 troops in the region as so-called peacekeepers, who guard huge...

Politicians in Moldova’s Kremlin-backed separatist region of Transnistria have appealed to Vladimir Putin to provide it with ‘protection’. Fears were stoked last week that Russia’s president was preparing for yet another landgrab in Europe in the wake of the two-year anniversary of his full-scale war in Ukraine. President Maia Sandu’s government has been fielding calls since Ghenadie Ciorba, an opposition figure in Transnistria, suggested that separatists are planning to call for a referendum on the region’s annexation to Russia.

Putin is reportedly on the brink of a new land grab to defy the West by possibly announcing soon that Russia is taking control of a breakaway Moldovan region. There is speculation that unofficial state Transnistria is poised to make an appeal to Putin to join Russia. The landlocked strip along the Dniester River is wedged between Moldova and Ukraine. Putin already has a 'peacekeeping' force of up to 2,000 troops in the territory which Russia says overwhelmingly wishes to be incorporated by Moscow. There are also likely thousands of Russian paramilitaries on the ground. A fear is Putin will...

A rocket barrage from Hezbollah into northern Israel including the Golan Heights... CPAC...El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele... The rearrest of that former FBI informant Alexander Smirnov... Israel's war cabinet agreeing to send a delegation...talks on release of hostages... Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announcing a committee meeting to approve more than three thousand new Jewish housing... Four dead, 19 missing, a 14-story building destroyed by fire in Valencia, Spain... An attack this evening on the US base at the Al-Omar oil field in Syria... US Central Command says a merchant vessel was struck and damaged...six drones were shot down in...

Israel plans to permanently replace all Palestinian laborers with foreign workers, in a major, ambitious initiative aimed at ridding the country of a perceived security threat, the Kan public broadcaster reports. Thousands of construction and agriculture workers from the West Bank have been barred from entering Israel for work since Hamas’s mass invasion and onslaught of October 7. Hamas reportedly gathered some of its intelligence for the attack from Gazans who had permits to work in Israel. To prevent a potential repeat in the West Bank, Kan says the government does not intend to allow the Palestinian workers back after...

Lavrov said on Thursday that Moldova, an Eastern European country and former Soviet republic, is putting itself in harm's way in its desire to join the European Union. In June 2022, the EU and its member states offered unwavering support for Moldova and granted it candidate status. The support was reaffirmed in March of this year, with the EU and its members promising to continue to provide security and economic support to Moldova as it awaits its path to accession... On Thursday, the Moldova Foreign Ministry issued a rebuke to Lavrov's comments, calling Russia's invasion of Ukraine "brutal" and saying...

Russia barred entry to a number of officials from Moldova on Monday and complained about moves by its pro-European government to block Russian media outlets ahead of local elections earlier this month. The moves were the latest in a series of acerbic exchanges between the two sides and allegations by Moldova that Russia has been exerting pressure on the ex-Soviet state's affairs and President Maia Sandu's drive to join the European Union. A Russian foreign ministry statement said Moldovan Ambassador Lilian Darie was summoned to be told of the decision. "The Moldovan side was presented with a decisive protest in...

Moldova says it will expel 45 Russian diplomats and other embassy staff because of their "unfriendly actions". The total will be cut to just 25 - a figure closer to the number Moldova has at its Moscow embassy. Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 the Moldovan government has accused Moscow of spying and backing opposition groups. Russia condemned the expulsion and said it would "not go unanswered". On Tuesday, Moldova's foreign ministry voiced concern about a media report on new surveillance equipment installed on the Russian embassy roof and a neighbouring building used by Russia. The report...

Moldova says it will expel 45 Russian diplomats and other embassy staff because of their "unfriendly actions". Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 the Moldovan government has accused Moscow of spying and backing opposition groups. On Tuesday, Moldova's foreign ministry voiced concern about a media report on new surveillance equipment installed on the Russian embassy roof and a neighbouring building used by Russia. The report came from Russian investigative media site Insider and Moldova's Jurnal TV channel. Announcing the expulsion on Wednesday, the ministry said it was prompted by "ongoing tensions and unfriendly actions" and the Russians...

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Romania on Monday to underscore Western support for a key NATO ally that borders Ukraine and also for neighbouring Moldova, which has looked especially vulnerable since Russia's invasion last year. Moldovan President Maia Sandu, who accuses Moscow of fomenting unrest in her tiny former Soviet republic, met Scholz and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis in Bucharest, pressing for support to speed up Moldova's accession to the European Union. Russia denies causing trouble in Moldova, which is situated between Romania and Ukraine. Scholz's visit to Bucharest comes a day after German armsmaker Rheinmetall (RHMG.DE) announced it was...

Moldovan President Maia Sandu has stated that Russia wants to use her country against Ukraine like the Kremlin uses Belarus. Sandu said Russia is trying to undermine and overthrow the government in Chișinău, and the Moldovan authorities have evidence of such actions. "It is clear that Russia is trying to install a pro-Russian government in Chișinău to use Moldova against Ukraine, as is the case, for example, with Belarus," the president said. She recalled the recent statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding his intention to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. "This is exactly what Russia wants to do...

Moldova’s parliament on Thursday (16 March) approved a law on referring to the national language as Romanian in all legislative texts and the constitution, despite opposition from a pro-Moscow communist party. The move is intended to resolve a heated dispute over whether the national language should be referred to as Romanian or Moldovan. The constitution currently refers to the national language as Moldovan, but Moldova’s 1991 declaration of independence from the Soviet Union stipulated that Romanian is the official language. Moldova’s governing PAS party proposed the draft law to bring the constitution into line with a constitutional court ruling in...

The UK is pledging millions of pounds to help Moldova and Georgia protect themselves against Russian interference. On a visit to the region, the Foreign Secretary James Cleverly will announce new funding to boost resilience against the destabilizing impact of President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine. The package will include an extra £10m to support economic and governance reforms in Moldova, as well as money to strengthen the security of next year's elections in Georgia. (snip) Ahead of the visit, Mr Cleverly said: "Few societies understand the underhand tactics of Russian malign activity more than Moldova and Georgia. "The UK...

A secret plan drawn up by Russia’s security service, the FSB, lays out detailed options to destabilize Moldova – including supporting pro-Russian groups, utilizing the Orthodox Church and threatening to cut off supplies of natural gas. The document appears to have been drawn up to thwart Moldova’s tilt to the West, which includes closer relations with NATO and an application to join the European Union. It repeatedly refers to the importance of preventing Moldova from joining NATO. (snip)The document sets out a 10-year strategy for bringing Moldova, a former Soviet republic sandwiched between Ukraine and Romania, within Russia’s sphere of...