TVNET FROM CHISINAU ⟩ The media inflated the bubble about the possible annexation of Transnistria, EU Ambassador to Moldova Mazeik says

In 2022, Moldova obtained the status of a candidate country for the European Union (EU), and at the end of last year accession negotiations began with it. The situation in Transnistria is Moldova’s biggest obstacle on the way to the EU, Mazeik admits.

“But Transnistria is not a typical frozen conflict, like, say, Donbass, Abkhazia or South Ossetia,” he explains. “Between Transnistria and the right bank [Moldovas valdības kontrolēto teritoriju] there are daily contacts. The territory of Transnistria is also excluded from the European Union’s free trade agreement. Two thirds of Transnistria’s total exports go to the European Union. There are people who commute from Tiraspol to work in Chisinau. This is not a story of minefields and barbed wire. Yes, there is a checkpoint where documents are checked, but that’s all.”

Mazeik points out that the de facto authorities of Transnistria are trying to avoid escalation and stick to the model of existence, when they can trade with both the EU and Russia at the same time. What has changed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 is that Ukraine has closed the Ukrainian-Moldovan border in the Transnistrian section, which means that you can now enter there only through the territory controlled by the Moldovan government. This prevents Transnistria from implementing its usual smuggling schemes.