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Moldovan President Maia Sandu stated that the decree by Kremlin ruler Vladimir Putin on simplified granting of Russian citizenship to residents of the unrecognized Transnistria region could be used to mobilize residents of the Moldovan region for the war against Ukraine.
The statement by the Moldovan president was cited by Politico, UATV English reports.
Sandu noted that “they (Russia — ed.) probably need more people to send them to the war in Ukraine.”
She suggested that this is one of Russia’s tactics aimed at threatening Moldova in connection with its efforts to reintegrate Transnistria.
“Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, most residents of this region have adopted Moldovan citizenship because they believed that with the citizenship of the Republic of Moldova they would be safer than with Russian citizenship,” Sandu said.
Asked whether Putin could block Moldova’s accession to the EU through the Transnistria issue, Sandu replied that “only the EU can decide whether Moldova becomes part of the EU or not. Russia has nothing to do with it.”
As reported earlier, on Saturday Putin approved a decree on simplified granting of Russian citizenship to residents of the unrecognized Transnistria region.
Following Putin’s decree, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy instructed officials to contact Moldova regarding the issue.
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