|On March 6, 2024, Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, and Evghenia Guțul, the leader of Gagauzia, exchange handshakes during an event near Soch.
Moldova has more than just Transnistria as a problem kid.
This week, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that, following his meeting with the pro-Moscow leader of the autonomous province of Gagauzia in Moldova, he would back the region. This move stoked additional concerns about destabilisation in the country as it rapidly approaches EU membership.
Putin "promised to extend support to Gagauzia and the Gagauz people in upholding our legal rights, our authority and positions in the international arena," according to Evghenia Guțul, who arrived in Russia last week.
“I told [him] about the illegal actions of Moldova’s authorities who are taking revenge on us for our civic positions and for standing by our national interests,” she added, after meeting the Russian leader on Wednesday.
Gagauzia, a southern Moldovan region of about 150,000 people, is populated mostly by ethnic Turks and was granted autonomy from Chișinău soon after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Guțul’s comments come after authorities in Transnistria, a more prominent pro-Moscow breakaway territory in Moldova’s east that has hosted Russian troops for three decades, made similar calls to Moscow last month to “protect” it against “pressure” from Chișinău.
The strong support that President Maia Sandu has shown for Ukraine and pro-EU ideals has increased tensions between the two regions and the central government of Moldova. Nestled between Romania and Ukraine, Moldova is about to start accession negotiations to the EU after the EU approved the talks in December.
Although the Kremlin's full-scale war on Ukraine is raging close to its border, the country's Foreign Minister Mihail Popșoi denied claims that Russia could order its troops into the country, telling POLITICO this week that Russia's military power has waned "thanks to the sacrifice of the brave Ukrainian people."
Guțul was elected as the region's head last year. On Thursday, the prosecutor general of Moldova announced that he has begun legal action against Guțul for unidentified "illegal actions."
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