Russia Hints at Stopping Gas Deliveries to Moldova

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dimitri Rogozin suggested at the beginning of this week during a visit to Chisinau that, should there be an agreement between Moldova and the EU, Russia might stop natural gas deliveries to the former Soviet country.

“Take care not to freeze in the winter and not to lose a train in the vortex of European integration you are caught it,” said Dimitri Rogozin during official meetings in the Moldovan capital.

The warning was made in the context of preparations for the upcoming Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius, where a new political approach is expected on the issue of the seperatist Republic of Transnistria, an artificially created republic within Moldovan territory, controlled by the Russian Federation.

It is not the first time that Russian gas deliveries to the Eastern Europe are used as pressure to impose its strategic policies. The last major crisis occured in 2012 when Russia stopped gas deliveries to Ukraine, Moldova, Romania and Bulgaria.

Silviu Molnar