Paris, May 20 (Agency) French President Emmanuel Macron said that the crisis in Ukraine may spread to neighboring Moldova. On Thursday, Macron met his Moldovan counterpart, Maia Sandu, in Paris. “The Russian invasion of Ukraine poses a threat to the stability of the whole region, especially for Moldova. The recent incidents in Transnistria show that the spread of the conflict to the neighboring countries is not ruled out. France is closely following the security situation and all the attempts to infringe on the stability, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Moldova,” Macron said.
Transnistria was rocked by a series of explosions last month. The local authorities introduced a red terrorist threat level and initiated a criminal probe into “the acts of terrorism.” Transnistrian President Vadim Krasnoselsky blamed the attacks on Ukraine, while Moldovan President Sandu insisted that the attempts to escalate the situation in the breakaway region are being undertaken by violent forces within Transnistria, which she believes intend to drag Moldova into war. Transnistria, 60% of whose population is Russian and Ukrainian, has been seeking to secede from Moldova since the collapse of the Soviet Union, fearing that Moldova would integrate with Romania. In 1992, after a failed attempt by the Moldovan authorities to solve the issue by force, Transnistria became a territory de facto not controlled by Chisinau.