{"id":385649,"date":"2014-04-15T20:34:42","date_gmt":"2014-04-15T17:34:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/?p=385649"},"modified":"2014-04-15T20:34:42","modified_gmt":"2014-04-15T17:34:42","slug":"us-expert-russia-nothing-much-lose-recognizing-transnistria-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/us-expert-russia-nothing-much-lose-recognizing-transnistria-now\/","title":{"rendered":"US expert: Russia has nothing much to lose by recognizing Transnistria now"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

After the referendum in Crimea, deemed illegal by Western countries, Moldova\u2019s breakaway region of Transnistria filed a request to join Russia as well.<\/p>\n

The Government based in Moscow did not respond to such an application, even though residents of the Transnistrian region held a referendum to join Russia in 2006.<\/p>\n

Steve Woehrel, specialist in European Affairs at the US Congressional Research Service (CSR), told Moldova.ORG that Transnistria\u2019s leaders use the current crisis in Ukraine to convince Russia to recognize their independence. According to him, the Kremlin \u201chas noting much additional to lose\u201d if they would recognize the secessionist region now.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt used to be believed that Russia would refrain from recognizing Transnistria in order to avoid harming relations with the EU and US,\u201d Mr. Woehrel said. \u201cBut of course after Crimea and Russia\u2019s current activities in Ukraine, that view is no longer valid. Russia really has nothing much additional to lose by recognizing Transnistria at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n

Russia has always claimed to respect Moldova\u2019s sovereignty and territorial integrity by supporting the \u201c5+2\u201d talks of the Transnistrian conflict settlement. They recognized neither the referendum of 2006, nor took note of the adherence to Russia request of the region. However, Moscow continues to support the secessionist regime based in Tiraspol.<\/p>\n

\u201cI assume for Russia this is mainly an issue of tactics and timing, not of fundamental principles,\u201d the researcher said, adding that Russian pressure over Moldova and its breakaway region are likely to increase shortly before the country is expected to sign the Association Agreement (AA) with the European Union in June this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cRussian pressure, including over Transnistria, may increase on the eve of Moldova\u2019s signing of the association agreement,\u201d he said. \u201cAfter the AA\u2019s signature, Russia may try to do whatever it can to break up the current coalition and defeat it in the next elections, using Transnistria, Gagauzia, de facto trade sanctions, supporting the PCRM, and so on. In short, [they would do] anything to stop the pro-EU, pro-Western orientation of the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

The specialist in European Affairs claims that Russia might recognize Transnistria if Moldova continues its pro-EU path.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the pro-EU orientation continues nevertheless, and Russia is under heavy sanctions due to Ukraine, they may go ahead and recognize Transnistria,\u201d Mr. Woehrel said. \u201cHowever, I admit this is mere speculation; the decision is in the hands of one man, whose mind we can\u2019t read.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reading Time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>After the referendum in Crimea, deemed illegal by Western countries, Moldova\u2019s breakaway region of Transnistria filed a request to join Russia as well. The Government based in Moscow did not respond to such an application, even though residents of the Transnistrian region held a referendum to join Russia in 2006. Steve Woehrel, specialist in European […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":228651,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-385649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"content_social_share":"Reading Time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

After the referendum in Crimea, deemed illegal by Western countries, Moldova\u2019s breakaway region of Transnistria filed a request to join Russia as well.<\/p>\n

The Government based in Moscow did not respond to such an application, even though residents of the Transnistrian region held a referendum to join Russia in 2006.<\/p>\n

Steve Woehrel, specialist in European Affairs at the US Congressional Research Service (CSR), told Moldova.ORG that Transnistria\u2019s leaders use the current crisis in Ukraine to convince Russia to recognize their independence. According to him, the Kremlin \u201chas noting much additional to lose\u201d if they would recognize the secessionist region now.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt used to be believed that Russia would refrain from recognizing Transnistria in order to avoid harming relations with the EU and US,\u201d Mr. Woehrel said. \u201cBut of course after Crimea and Russia\u2019s current activities in Ukraine, that view is no longer valid. Russia really has nothing much additional to lose by recognizing Transnistria at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n

Russia has always claimed to respect Moldova\u2019s sovereignty and territorial integrity by supporting the \u201c5+2\u201d talks of the Transnistrian conflict settlement. They recognized neither the referendum of 2006, nor took note of the adherence to Russia request of the region. However, Moscow continues to support the secessionist regime based in Tiraspol.<\/p>\n

\u201cI assume for Russia this is mainly an issue of tactics and timing, not of fundamental principles,\u201d the researcher said, adding that Russian pressure over Moldova and its breakaway region are likely to increase shortly before the country is expected to sign the Association Agreement (AA) with the European Union in June this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cRussian pressure, including over Transnistria, may increase on the eve of Moldova\u2019s signing of the association agreement,\u201d he said. \u201cAfter the AA\u2019s signature, Russia may try to do whatever it can to break up the current coalition and defeat it in the next elections, using Transnistria, Gagauzia, de facto trade sanctions, supporting the PCRM, and so on. In short, [they would do] anything to stop the pro-EU, pro-Western orientation of the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

The specialist in European Affairs claims that Russia might recognize Transnistria if Moldova continues its pro-EU path.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the pro-EU orientation continues nevertheless, and Russia is under heavy sanctions due to Ukraine, they may go ahead and recognize Transnistria,\u201d Mr. Woehrel said. \u201cHowever, I admit this is mere speculation; the decision is in the hands of one man, whose mind we can\u2019t read.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/div>
<\/div><\/div>
<\/div>","yoast_head":"\nUS expert: Russia has nothing much to lose by recognizing Transnistria now - Moldova.org<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/us-expert-russia-nothing-much-lose-recognizing-transnistria-now\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Valeriu Gon\u021ba\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/us-expert-russia-nothing-much-lose-recognizing-transnistria-now\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/us-expert-russia-nothing-much-lose-recognizing-transnistria-now\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Valeriu Gon\u021ba\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8ee186012d07cd2d5943b27b3730f2a3\"},\"headline\":\"US expert: Russia has nothing much to lose by recognizing Transnistria now\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-04-15T17:34:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/us-expert-russia-nothing-much-lose-recognizing-transnistria-now\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":414,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/us-expert-russia-nothing-much-lose-recognizing-transnistria-now\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"articleSection\":[\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/us-expert-russia-nothing-much-lose-recognizing-transnistria-now\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/us-expert-russia-nothing-much-lose-recognizing-transnistria-now\\\/\",\"name\":\"US expert: Russia has nothing much to lose by recognizing Transnistria now - Moldova.org\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/us-expert-russia-nothing-much-lose-recognizing-transnistria-now\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/us-expert-russia-nothing-much-lose-recognizing-transnistria-now\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-04-15T17:34:42+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8ee186012d07cd2d5943b27b3730f2a3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/us-expert-russia-nothing-much-lose-recognizing-transnistria-now\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/us-expert-russia-nothing-much-lose-recognizing-transnistria-now\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/us-expert-russia-nothing-much-lose-recognizing-transnistria-now\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/us-expert-russia-nothing-much-lose-recognizing-transnistria-now\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"US expert: Russia has nothing much to lose by recognizing Transnistria now\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Moldova.org\",\"description\":\"The first news website of Moldova\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8ee186012d07cd2d5943b27b3730f2a3\",\"name\":\"Valeriu Gon\u021ba\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9be25c5aff1a4a408afc1804f0c66d4df76b004b2cafbcbd968d951f617dfbdd?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9be25c5aff1a4a408afc1804f0c66d4df76b004b2cafbcbd968d951f617dfbdd?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9be25c5aff1a4a408afc1804f0c66d4df76b004b2cafbcbd968d951f617dfbdd?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Valeriu Gon\u021ba\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moldova.org\\\/en\\\/author\\\/valeriugonta\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"US expert: Russia has nothing much to lose by recognizing Transnistria now - Moldova.org","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/us-expert-russia-nothing-much-lose-recognizing-transnistria-now\/","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Valeriu Gon\u021ba","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/us-expert-russia-nothing-much-lose-recognizing-transnistria-now\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/us-expert-russia-nothing-much-lose-recognizing-transnistria-now\/"},"author":{"name":"Valeriu Gon\u021ba","@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/8ee186012d07cd2d5943b27b3730f2a3"},"headline":"US expert: Russia has nothing much to lose by recognizing Transnistria now","datePublished":"2014-04-15T17:34:42+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/us-expert-russia-nothing-much-lose-recognizing-transnistria-now\/"},"wordCount":414,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/us-expert-russia-nothing-much-lose-recognizing-transnistria-now\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","articleSection":["Politics"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/us-expert-russia-nothing-much-lose-recognizing-transnistria-now\/","url":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/us-expert-russia-nothing-much-lose-recognizing-transnistria-now\/","name":"US expert: Russia has nothing much to lose by recognizing Transnistria now - Moldova.org","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/us-expert-russia-nothing-much-lose-recognizing-transnistria-now\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/us-expert-russia-nothing-much-lose-recognizing-transnistria-now\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","datePublished":"2014-04-15T17:34:42+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/8ee186012d07cd2d5943b27b3730f2a3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/us-expert-russia-nothing-much-lose-recognizing-transnistria-now\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/us-expert-russia-nothing-much-lose-recognizing-transnistria-now\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/us-expert-russia-nothing-much-lose-recognizing-transnistria-now\/#primaryimage","url":"","contentUrl":""},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/us-expert-russia-nothing-much-lose-recognizing-transnistria-now\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"US expert: Russia has nothing much to lose by recognizing Transnistria now"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/","name":"Moldova.org","description":"The first news website of Moldova","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/8ee186012d07cd2d5943b27b3730f2a3","name":"Valeriu Gon\u021ba","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9be25c5aff1a4a408afc1804f0c66d4df76b004b2cafbcbd968d951f617dfbdd?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9be25c5aff1a4a408afc1804f0c66d4df76b004b2cafbcbd968d951f617dfbdd?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9be25c5aff1a4a408afc1804f0c66d4df76b004b2cafbcbd968d951f617dfbdd?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Valeriu Gon\u021ba"},"url":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/author\/valeriugonta\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=385649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385649\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=385649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=385649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=385649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}