Thread by @DionisCenusa

#Moldova: Freshly elected president Sandu made statements that are producing first controversies related to her presidential mandate. The statements referred to Russia and the Moldovan breakaway region. (THREAD)

1. Sandu was asked by @BBCSteveR about the settlement of the Transnistrian conflict. She told that it is necessary to withdraw the Russian peacekeepers from Transnistria. This is not a new request, but depends the modality of saying it. bbc.com/news/world-eur…

2. A first negative reaction came from the Russian Duma. The member of the Committee on International Affairs Elena Panina rejected this idea of withdrawal because it would lead to the “unfreezing” of the conflict. She suggested that the separatist regime will never accept this.

3. Outgoing president Igor Dodon called Sandu’s statement a “serious mistake”. He invoked that president-elect would ask Ukraine to pressurize Transnistria. Dodon spoke about Russian peacekeepers as guarantee concerning Transnistrian conflict & country’s Russian speaking pop.

4. President-elect Sandu should learn quickly from how to speak in the FP language. The FP is unlike domestic political arena where speculations are not sanctioned at all. It seems that both Russian forces within Moldova and Russia itself will give hard time to Sandu.

4. I warned about the potential complications that Sandu may encounter on eastern direction. 👇 eesc.lt/en/2020/11/20/…