Moldova Will Not Abandon Transnistria To Join EU - President

CHISINAU (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 02nd June, 2023) Moldova will not abandon breakaway Transnistria to join the European Union and is currently working on the settlement of the conflict in the region to meet the European Commission's conditions, Moldovan President Maia Sandu said on Thursday.

"We will not abandon the Transnistrian region. We are working on both directions: the implementation of the European Commission's recommendations and the implementation of the reform program, and the settlement of the Transnistrian conflict," Sandu told reporters.

Earlier in the day, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell also said the Transnistrian problem would not prevent Moldova from becoming a member of the European Union.

Moldova applied for EU membership in March 2022 and was granted EU candidate status in June.

The EU will decide on further steps once Moldova fulfills nine conditions outlined in the European Commission's opinion on its EU membership application.

Transnistria, 60% of whose population are Russians and Ukrainians, sought to secede from Moldova even before the collapse of the Soviet Union, fearing that Moldova would join Romania on a wave of nationalism. In 1992, after an unsuccessful attempt by the Moldovan authorities to resolve the problem by force, Transnistria became a territory virtually outside the control of Chisinau. After the start of Russia's military operation in neighboring Ukraine in February 2022, tensions in Transnistria escalated.