Thursday, January 21, 2016

Stirring the Pot

While protesters surely have reason to worry about government corruption in Moldova, have no doubt that Russia is fomenting unrest in this broken remnant of the Soviet Union that lies in a gray region between independence and Russian dominance.

The Moldovan government wants to move closer to the West. Some don't like it:

About 7,000 people held an anti-government protest Thursday in the Moldovan capital, a day after demonstrators stormed the legislature after it approved a new pro-European government. ...

Some demonstrators who support opposition political parties want closer links to Russia.

And have no doubt that Russia would use that faction--with broader discontent over corruption making their faction look bigger than it is--to back a Little Green Men offensive to decisively end that attempt to forge links to the West.

Russia would love to bring Moldova back into the fold. Which would have the effect of putting Russian-dominated territory to the west of Ukraine, the south (in newly conquered Crimea), and the east (the Donbas conquered region and Russia proper), leaving only the north still up in the air (where Belarus hosts Russian forces but resists full surrender to Russia).