DISINFO: Moldova is preparing for a new war against Transnistria
SUMMARY
Moldova is preparing for a new war against Transnistria. Who needs a second front in Europe?
RESPONSE
Pre-Kremlin disinformation narrative repeated many times over the past two years and also resumed since the latest Russian aggression against Ukraine, on February 24, 2022. See here a similar case claiming that US arms Moldova for war in Transnistria, and here a case saying Kyiv is pushing Moldova to aggression against Transnistria.
The support, announced in June 2022, of 40 million euros from the EU for the Moldovan National Army and the Comment from July 2022 of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Moldova requesting the withdrawal of the contingent of troops that the Russian Federation has since 1992 in the Transnistrian region, the de facto territory of Republic of Moldova, are presented as arguments for the claim above.
The aid announced by the EU for Moldova is part of the European Peace Facility and "will strengthen the capacities of the logistics, mobility, command and control, cyber defense, unmanned aerial reconnaissance and tactical communications units of the Armed Forces of Moldova by providing non-lethal equipment, supplies and relevant services, including training related to the equipment".
The statement made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not contain any reference to possible response actions in the event that Russia does not withdraw its troops from Transnistria: ”We also reiterate on this occasion, based on the constitutional neutrality of the Republic of Moldova, the relevant decisions adopted during the OSCE Summit in Istanbul in 1999 and in order to implement Resolution 72/282 of the UN General Assembly, the need for the Russian Federation to withdraw its military forces and ammunition from the territory of the Republic of Moldova”, is stated in the Comment of MFA made on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the launch of the peacekeeping operation in the Transnistrian region.
The authorities of the Republic of Moldova denied several times that they have any intention of attacking Transnistria and emphasized that the only way to resolve the Transnistrian conflict is the peaceful one. The last statement in this regard was made by the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Moldova, Anatolie Nosatii, who said, on September 8, in an interview, that ”currently, there is no danger of war, of a military conflict on the territory of the country”.