The governor of Moldova's pro-Russia Gagauzia region has reportedly become the second regional leader from the Eastern European nation to request the "protection" of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Gagauzia Governor Eugenia Gutul accused her country's pro-European Union (EU) leadership of "oppressing" pro-Kremlin residents of her region during a meeting with the speaker of Russia's Senate in Moscow on Friday, according to Reuters.
The development came after Congress of Moldova's internationally unrecognized pro-Russia breakaway state Transnistria earlier this week requested that Putin's government "implement measures for defending Transnistria," which elicited fears that Russia may move to invade Moldova.
"We want ... to continue to receive support from the Russian Federation," Gutul reportedly told Speaker Valentina Matviyenko during the meeting on Friday, before requesting the establishment of direct airline flights between Gagauzia and Russia.
Matviyenko reportedly responded by praising Gutul for caring "about the development of the economy," while touting "the expansion of ties between our regions and Gagauzia" and pointing out that "10 Russian constituent regions have signed agreements with Gagauzia."
"There is an autonomous territorial unit, Gagauzia, which cares about its citizens, which wants to develop, which wants to improve the welfare of its citizens," Matviyenko said, according to Russian-state media agency TASS.
"And if the leaders of Gagauzia are willing to cooperate in this way, we ... will provide all possible assistance [to] strengthen and expand our ties," she added. "And no one can prohibit either us or you [from doing so]."
Newsweek reached out for comment to Putin's office via email on Friday night.
In a statement emailed to Newsweek, Moldovan Foreign Minister Mihai Popșoi said Russia "imprisons opposition politicians and murders them, unjustifiably attacks its neighbors [and] can offer the world nothing but blood and pain," while arguing that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and "the Kremlin regime" were in no position to "lecture on democracy and freedom."
"In our country politicians are elected through free and transparent, internationally recognized electoral processes, where each candidate enjoys equal rights, ample space for campaigning, and the possibility of direct interaction with voters," Popșoi said.
"The Republic of Moldova is a democratic state where freedom and respect for human rights are fundamental values," he added. "We are building a European future for all our citizens, regardless of language and ethnicity, to live in peace and prosperity."
Gutul was elected to lead Gagauzia on a pro-Russia platform last year in an election that Moldova's national government later investigated for fraud, including residents allegedly voting for Gutul after taking bribes.
The governor's visit to Moscow will likely intensify concerns that Moldova could become the next target for the expansionist ambitions of Putin. The country shares its eastern border with Ukraine, which Russia invaded on February 24, 2022, under the pretext of aiding pro-Russia separatists in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Moldova was also granted EU membership candidate status in 2022, with plans to become a member of the union by 2030. The Russian government has strongly opposed its regional neighbors joining organizations such as the EU and NATO, the expansion of which Putin cited as an additional reason for invading Ukraine.
In February 2023, Moldovan President Maia Sandu accused Putin of plotting a coup to overthrow her country's government, a scenario that some Western analysts warned could be achieved with the help of approximately 1,500 troops that remain stationed in Transnistria following the war that led to it becoming an unrecognized state in the 1990s.
A representative for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Russia's state-run news agency RIA Novosti on Wednesday that Moscow would "carefully" consider Transnistria's request for protecting Russian "compatriots" in the region.
Update 3/4/24, 3:49 p.m. ET: This article has been updated to include a statement from Popșoi.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Aila Slisco is a Newsweek night reporter based in New York. Her focus is on reporting national politics, where she ... Read more
