The mobilization announced by Putin, discussed at the Supreme Security Council of Moldova Moldova | DW
The Moldovan Ministry of Defense announced that the enlistment of Moldovans who also have Russian citizenship and live in Russia is possible. Those who have Russian passports, but live abroad, cannot be subject to mobilization in Russia. Moldovans with Russian passports who live in the Republic of Moldova, including in the Transnistrian region, also belong to this category.
Moldovans in Russia queue at the consulate for “white passports”
On Friday evening, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Chisinau issued a statement stating that “in connection with the considerable increase in the number of applications for the completion of travel documents (so-called “white passports”) at the Consular Section of the Embassy of the Republic of Moldova in Russia . , it was decided to extend the program on weekend days”. Moreover, the authorities are also examining the possibility of redistributing diplomatic staff for consular activities if the demand for “white passports” from Moldovan citizens will continue. This document can be used only once to return to Moldova in case of loss or expiration of the passport.
However, the authorities in Chisinau have not formulated, for now, any position regarding the availability of a shelter for Russians fleeing partial mobilization from their country, but they are preparing for a new wave of Ukrainian refugees during the winter.
The demographer of the National Institute of Economic Research in Chisinau, Olga Gagauz, informed us that the number of Moldovans in Russia has decreased essentially since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Of the more than 300,000 Moldovan migrants who are in Russia, approximately . 70,000. And this before Putin announced the mobilization of the reservists.
After the start of conscription, Moldovans, even with “white passports” or without Russian citizenship, found themselves isolated in Russia due to the huge queues that formed at the exit from the Federation. Chisinau suspended all air connections with Russia since February 24 (the first day of the invasion) and has not resumed them. After the mobilization decree issued by the Russian president, a Moscow-Chisinau plane ticket, with stops, reaches 3000 euros.
Moldova is preparing for a new wave of Ukrainian refugees
In connection with the developments in the region and the risks for Moldova after the partial mobilization announced by Putin, President Maia Sandu convened the Supreme Security Council on Saturday, September 24. The meeting takes place a few days after the head of state condemned, from the UN platform, Russia’s unprovoked war in Ukraine, demanded the unconditional withdrawal of the Russian army from Moldova and requested international aid for Moldova.
According to the president of the Parliament in Chisinau, Igor Grosu, there is currently no imminent danger for the Republic of Moldova, “but if you mobilize 300,000 people on the front line, that can lead to escalation.”
Chisinau is closely following developments in the Odesa and Nikolaev regions, located a few kilometers from the border with the Republic of Moldova. “Ukrainian and Western military experts do not convey that there is no imminent danger of escalation in Odesa and Nikolaev at the moment, but this does not mean that we should relax. The first thing that would target us would be a new wave of refugees in the winter. We must be prepared for any scenario,” Grosu said.
“Only the military defeat of the Putin regime on the battlefield may not provide security guarantees. Otherwise, we are not protected, even if we declare ourselves neutral”, PAS deputy, Oazu Nantoi.
An internationally wanted fugitive, the Kremlin’s new partner in Moldova
In the meantime, the party of the Moldovan fugitive Ilan Şor brought his people in front of the Presidency in Chisinau and set up tents there where they protest non-stop. They demand the resignation of Maia Sandu. In a clearly advanced state of intoxication, the alleged protesters appear in video images on the Internet declaring themselves “Putin’s friends”. And the propaganda channels from Moscow attribute to the fugitive Shor (who is hiding in Israel) the qualification of “reliable partner of Moscow”. The individual, sentenced in the first instance to seven and a half years in prison in the Republic of Moldova, for money laundering in particularly large proportions, controls several companies, the Chisinau airport and a real media empire. Recently, two more TV positions known to be funded from Russia have changed directors and are believed to have come under the international wanted criminal.