Moldova likely to impose martial law amid rising threat of Russian invasion

Moldovan President Maia Sandu also signed a formal application for her country to join the European Union on Thursday.

Moldovan President Maia Sandu (File photo: Reuters)

Ukraine’s neighbouring country, Moldova, is likely to impose martial law from March 9.

According to Nexta, Moldova’s deputy Goncharenko has said that there is a threat to the country from Russia. “Putin’s army could attack Moldova any time,” Goncharenko said.

Moldova was once a part of Soviet Russia. After the recent invasion of Ukraine, Moldova applied for membership of the European Union (EU). President Maia Sandu in a statement said, “Moldova is a peace-loving country and we want to be part of a free world. That’s why we have applied for membership of the European Union.”

Why is Moldova afraid of attack?

Moldova was separated from the Soviet Union in 1991 and became an independent country. Until 2009, it was ruled by Russia-backed governments. However, Moldova later started to incline towards America and the European countries.

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Recently, the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, told a Security Council meeting that after Ukraine, Putin’s next target could be Moldova. A video of him showing a map also went viral in which he was talking about the probable invasion of Moldova after Ukraine. This is the reason why Moldova has applied for membership of the EU.

Transnistria is another concern for Moldova

Moldova is bordered by Ukraine and Romania. There is an area known as Transnistria on the border with Ukraine. The world considers this place to be a part of Moldova, but in reality, Transnistria acts like a free country. There is a separate government here and also a separate parliament. It even has its own separate army and this entire area is said to be a stronghold of the Russian-backed forces.

Russian army is already stationed here

The dispute over Transnistria has been going on since the independence of Moldova. As a peacekeeping force, Russia has already stationed more than 2000 soldiers here. After the attack on Ukraine, the statement of the President of Moldova came in which she expressed concern over the deployment of Russia’s army here and alerted her country’s army.

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