Transnistria tensions: Could Russia try to annex Moldova’s breakaway state?
Al Jazeera
Pro-Russian rebels hint at a referendum, a move Moldova has dismissed as meaningless propaganda.
Bucharest, Romania – Alexandru Flenchea’s phone has been ringing non-stop since last week.
“I cannot tell you how many phone calls I have received in the last two days from both the press and just acquaintances,” Flenchea told Al Jazeera, by phone.
People keep asking him whether it is safe to stay in Moldova.
“It is just insane,” he said.
Flenchea heads the Initiative 4 Peace Association in Chisinau, Moldova’s capital, and has been fielding calls since Ghenadie Ciorba – an opposition figure in Transnistria, a separatist pro-Russian region in eastern Moldova – recently reportedly suggested that the rebels may call for a referendum on the region’s annexation to Russia.
