The authorities in Chisinau should have their eyes wide open and should immediately identify signals coming from Moscow, which can destabilize the situation on the left side of the Nistru now that Parliament passed amendments to the Penal Code and introduced jail terms for separatism, political commentator Anatol Țăranu, doctor of history, Moldova’s former ambassador to Russia, stated in a debate hosted by IPN.

“The situation in the Transnistrian region can escalate. The selective application of the law can substantially diminish this danger, but cannot fully remove it. Moscow will try to use any application of this law to increase tensions in the separatist region. From this viewpoint, Chisinau should be very attentive and detect any possible reactions in terms of the escalation of the situation,” said the ex-ambassador to Russia.

According to him, the anti-separatism law is nothing else but a clear signal transmitted by the current government to Moscow and to the separatist regime in the Transnistrian region.

“Chisinau no longer wants to tolerate the behavior established during the past 30 years. In general, I don’t think the new provisions can substantially change the Chisinau – Tiraspol relationship and remove separatism. Moscow finds itself in an embarrassing, even ridiculous situation as it has norms against separatism on the territory of the Russian Federation in its own legislation. At the same time, Moscow has a state agreement of friendship and cooperation with the Republic of Moldova and this clearly stipulates that the sides will not support the separatist actions and will mutually respect sovereignty. What Moscow did when it condemned the Parliament decision on the Penal Code shows that it supports separatism to the detriment of the sovereignty of the Republic of Moldova. This position of Moscow is not something of a novelty. It continues to maintain this instrument as a mechanism of influence,” stated Țăranu.

He also said that if Moldova does not radically change its approach to the political settlement of the Transnistrian conflict, it will not achieve something. It is nonsense for Russia, which took part in the war of 1992 and strengthened the separatist regime with the own weapons, to act as an international mediator and guarantor in the Transnistrian settlement process.

Anatol Țăranu noted the Russian officials fall under the new Moldovan provisions on separatism. “The law provides the foreign subjects that contribute to the propagation of separatism will also be penalized. I will give as example the participation by the attaché of the Embassy of Russia in the military parade in Transnistria. This means they fall under the provisions of this law and should be expelled. We needed such a law, but the way in which it is implemented is very important,” he stated, noting the new law should be uniform for everyone and should not be applied selectively.

The political commentator considers the solution is to adopt a law on the status of the separatist region as part of Moldova, which would stipulate that all the contacts between the sides are absolutely legal, while the economic contracts between our oligarchs and the oligarchs from Tiraspol are illegal and fall under the Penal Code. Respectively, this status should clearly say that this is the territory of the Republic of Moldova and its reintegration is the goal.

The expert noted the amendments to the Penal Code that were adopted recently by the parliamentary majority are rather a political value as they show the Moldovan authorities’ wish to fight separatism and to collect political evidence and arguments that will be put on the negotiating table when the time of the definite political settlement of the conflict comes. This can happen sooner that some consider. The ending of the war in Ukraine can favor the settlement of the Transnistrian conflict.

The public debate entitled “Implementation mechanisms and possible effects of new anti-separatism legislation” was the 271st installment of IPN’s project “Developing Political Culture through Public Debates” that is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation.