France and Germany, determined to support the Republic of Moldova in the face of risks of destabilization
The foreign ministers of France and Germany, Jean-Yves Le Drian, respectively Annalena Baerbock, declared on Friday that they are determined to support the Republic of Moldova in the face of the destabilization risks they face, reports AFP, taken over by Agerpres.
“Ministers exchanged views on the European response to the war in Ukraine and discussed continuing and deepening support for these countries,” said a spokesman for the French Foreign Ministry. “The two ministers also discussed the situation in the Republic of Moldova and their joint determination to stand up to the risks of destabilization,” added Anne-Claire Legendre.
The pro-Russian separatist region of Transnistria in Moldova was shaken this week by a series of explosions, which raised concerns about the risk of escalating the conflict devastating Ukraine.
France said on Tuesday that it supports Moldova in the face of “risks of destabilization” and reiterated its “support for the territorial integrity” of the country, AFP said.
For her part, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told the Berlin parliament on Wednesday that it was unclear who was behind the attacks in the separatist region of Transnistria, but described Moldova’s situation as “extremely criticism ”.
In an interview with Al-Arabiya television, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was asked on Friday if Moldova should be worried about anything about Ukraine’s “special Russian operation”. “They should be worried about their future, because they are being dragged into NATO and I don’t think that will help the security of the Republic of Moldova,” the Moscow diplomat replied.
The statement of the Russian Foreign Minister is all the more curious as Moldova has the neutrality enshrined in the Constitution and has not expressed its desire to join NATO. Instead, the Republic of Moldova wants to join the European Union.
In early March, separatist authorities in Tiraspol announced that they did not agree with Moldova’s application for EU membership and called for the recognition of Transnistria’s independence.
Mysterious explosions in Transnistria, a separatist territory in Moldova where Moscow has held troops for nearly 30 years, sparked fears earlier this week about the escalation of the conflict. Pro-Russian separatists in Transnistria have announced that several attacks have taken place, claiming that they came from Ukraine, but many experts believe that Russia’s subversive actions are intended to create a pretext for a possible invasion of Moldova.
This week, Andrei Rudenko, one of Sergei Lavrov’s deputies, refused to rule out the possibility of Transnistria being drawn into the war in Ukraine. He said that he “hopes” that Transnistria will not be drawn into the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, so that Moscow will not have to intervene to resolve the situation.
A senior Russian general, Rustam Minnekaiev, the deputy commander of Russia’s Central Military District, recently said that Russia is considering creating a corridor to Transnistria in Ukraine, which he says has “cases of oppression of the Russian-speaking population.” .
Following the Russian general’s statement, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Russia’s invasion of its countries was just beginning and that Moscow had plans to invade other countries.
Editor: Luana Pavaluca