Could the conflict in Ukraine widen? Moldova on Tuesday April 26 announced measures to strengthen its security. A decision made after a series of blasts in the separatist region of Transnistria, backed by Moscow. “This is an attempt to increase tensions. We condemn such actions in the strongest possible terms. The Moldovan authorities will ensure that the republic is not drawn into a conflict,” Moldovan President Maia Sandu said after a National Security Council meeting.
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She called on the population to “calm down” and announced the increase in road and traffic controls, border patrols and additional measures to protect essential infrastructure. These moves illustrate concern in Moldova, a former Soviet republic that fears will become Moscow’s next target after Ukraine, a neighboring country where Russia has been leading a military offensive for more than two months.
On Tuesday, two blasts damaged a Russian radio frequency transmission tower in Mayak near the Ukrainian border, the Interior Ministry of this self-proclaimed “republic” said. The day before, the authorities of Transnistria, whose independence is not recognized by the international community, said the headquarters of the Ministry of Public Security in Tiraspol, the region’s capital, had come under fire.
Russia is “closely monitoring the situation in that province,” a Kremlin spokesman said on Tuesday, adding that “the information it has received gives cause for concern.”
Moldova is already suffering the aftermath of the war in Ukraine, with the influx of more than 400,000 people fleeing the fighting. But the small Eastern European country of 2.6 million, sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine, now fears being engulfed by the conflict, especially as its ties with Russia have been strained since Maïa Sandu took office as the pro-European leader in 2020. In any case, France has announced that it will support Moldova in view of “the risks of destabilization”, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian reacted on Tuesday.