Expert says Moldova seeks to bring Gagauzia, Transnistria under control with Kiev’s help

Expert says Moldova seeks to bring Gagauzia, Transnistria under control with Kiev’s help "In fact Gagauzia has found itself in a situation similar to that of Transnistria, as the conflict in Ukraine has cut the regions off from external partners that have traditionally maintained the balance of power," Igor Ivanenko saidMOSCOW, September 17. /TASS/. Moldovan authorities are using the borders closed by Ukraine to bring the Gagauz autonomy and Transnistria under their control, historian and political science expert Igor Ivanenko wrote in his TASS column on Thursday, commenting on new sanctions against the unrecognized republic and the stripping of some powers from Gagauzia. "In fact Gagauzia has found itself in a situation similar to that of Transnistria, as the conflict in Ukraine has cut the regions off from external partners that have traditionally maintained the balance of power. The unitarians in power in Chisinau are seeking to take advantage of this moment to centralize power," the expert said. According to Ivanenko, the regions that do not support Moldovan President Maia Sandu’s confrontation with Moscow are now in a vulnerable position following Ukraine’s closure of its borders and measures by the pro-Western government in Chisinau to isolate the regions from Russia, while blocking any ties with Moscow. "Today, the initiative is in the hands of Sandu’s allies. But their uncompromising approach to shaping a multinational Moldova according to a unitary model could prove costly for the state project in the future. Once the regional crisis ends and the artificial blockade is lifted, Chisinau will inevitably lose its monopoly on dictating the terms. The regions may be expected to regain their former geopolitical support, and the issue of radically restructuring Moldova, up to and including a transition to a federal model, will then come back onto the agenda with renewed force," Ivanenko said. Today marks 20 years since the referendum in Transnistria, in which 97% of voters supported independence from Moldova and subsequent free accession to Russia. A similar referendum took place in Gagauzia in 2014, when 96% of voters backed Moldova’s integration into the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. The same percentage supported the idea of a "deferred status of autonomy," which envisages declaring independence if Moldova decides to join Romania. Earlier this year, Moldovan authorities removed Evghenia Gutsul from the leadership of Gagauzia and, through the Constitutional Court, declared a number of the autonomy’s powers concerning elections to its governing bodies illegal. Those powers had been set out in the law on the autonomy’s special legal status, which represented a political and legal compromise that Gagauz people accepted in 1994 after abandoning plans to establish their own state. Transnistria, meanwhile, was hit with additional taxes. Transnistrian President Vadim Krasnoselsky called the Chisinau initiative a new instrument of pressure in an interview with TASS, saying it would deal a "major blow" to the region’s state budget. 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