Inkwell Institute

Eurasian Desk

Moldova?  Kinda sounds like a planet in the Gnarn system, right?

Actually it is a small nation sandwiched between Ukraine and Romania…..during the old USSR days it was a small socialist republic within the Soviet Union of nations…….since the break-up of the USSR it has been a free nation……and there is still a strong communist party within the country…..but it has been a republic since 1990……

Why would anyone be interested i what happens in Moldova?

Good question…..there have been several reports that Putin’s Russia may be eyeing Moldova for the next exercise in his growing power…….

NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Philip Breedlove, following the lead of NATO’s political brass in hyping the Russian “threat” to Europe, has warned Russia’s deployment along its border with Ukraine could mean a plan to attack Moldova.

That’s his theory, though over 500 miles of Ukrainian territory lies between the Russian border and Moldova’s breakaway region of Transnistria, so the deployments aren’t exactly within striking distance.

Breedlove urged a major military redeployment with an eye on defending Eastern Europe, and Moldova in particular, from a full scale Russian invasion, noting “you cannot defend against that if you are not there to defend against it.”

Transnistria is a narrow strip that hugs the Dniester River, and seceded from Moldova in 1992, though its secession is not generally recognized by NATO member nations. The region’s population is split roughly in thirds by ethnic Moldovans, Ukrainians, and Russians.

The Russian military retains a 1,200-man military presence in Transnistria, which Moldova claims is an “illegal occupation,” since they don’t recognize Transnistria’s independence and seek to re-annex them.

NATO officials are trying to draw a parallel between Transnistria and Crimea, though as a region with little strategic value which Russia is protecting from re-annexation, it seems to have more in common with South Ossetia, which Georgia continues to claim as its own territory.

We need to keep an eye on the prize here……Putin has gotten to where he is today because the West underestimated his intentions……

Americans are supremely ignorant on international situations only when it hits the front page do they offer an opinion………we are reacting not acting……..and that is a terrible foreign policy……….enough said?