One of Russia’s strategic objectives is removing all Romanian-related elements of the Republic of Moldova and the transformation of this country into a “satellite” of Moscow, according to a plan adopted by Vladimir Putin since the fall of 2021.
According to the document, entitled “Strategic objectives of the Russian Federation in Republic of Moldova”, and owned by several media organizations, such as Süddeutsche Zeitung, Yahoo News or The Dossier Center, Moscow’s plan has short-, medium- and long-term objectives set with the ultimate goal of forced “Russification” of Moldova and transformation of republics in a state completely dependent on Russia.
Short-term goals (to be achieved by 2022) included “neutralizing” any actions by the government in Chisinau to try to demilitarize Transnistria and evacuate Russian troops from the region.
Last month, the new Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova demanded exactly this: the demilitarization of Transnistria and the evacuation of Moscow’s troops.
At the same time, Moscow proposed the creation, in parallel, of non-governmental organizations to promote “Russian-Moldovan relations” and the opening of a consulate general of the Russian Federation in the “capital” of Gagauzia, Comrat.
The medium-term objective proposed by Vladimir Putin to be achieved by 2025 is “the creation of a favorable current of opinion towards Russia among the Moldovan elites”.
One of the goals – but not achieved by the Kremlin – was to increase the influence of Russian media publications on the territory of the Republic of Moldova and prevent the Chisinau authorities from banning pro-Kremlin media channels. At the end of last year, however, 6 Russian propaganda television stations were banned in the Republic of Moldova.