Russian deputy prime minister warns Moldova against signing EU deal

A senior Russian official ratcheted up pressure on Moldova yesterday warning that the impoverished former Soviet country would face sanctions if it followed the path of Ukraine and allied with the European Union.

Dmitry Rogozin, Russia's deputy prime minister, said he would "insist on a review" of Russia's economic relations with Moldova if the country went ahead with plans to sign an EU association agreement in June.

Penalties could include visa restrictions on the hundreds of thousands of migrant Moldovan workers who rely on the Russian job market to earn a living.

"Why should Russia maintain the existing status quo if Moldova, which feeds itself and replenishes its budget with [remittances from] migrant workers stops being close, friendly or even neutral towards the Russian state," Mr Rogozin told the Russian business daily Kommersant.

Annexation
Russia's annexation of Crimea has caused alarm in Moldova, which lost control of its own pro-Russian Transdniester region after a short war in the early 1990s. Russia has not recognised Transdneister, but has stationed about 2,000 peacekeeping troops in the enclave.

Nato has warned that Russian forces massed near Ukraine's eastern frontier could be planning an invasion of Transdniester in a move to finally settle the status of the enclave.

Adding to security concerns, Ukraine has accused illegal militia from Transdniester of stirring pro-Russian separatist unrest in its southeastern regions that border the enclave.

Moving to demonstrate solidarity with Moldova, the EU has brought forward plans to sign the association agreement by a few months. The pact is now expected to be finalised in June.

Mr Rogozin, who was one of the Russian officials targeted by the US for sanctions after the Crimea annexation, led a delegation of parliamentarians on a controversial private visit to Tiraspol, the capital of Transdniester, at the weekend.

Commemoration
Ostensibly, the trip was intended to mark the Victory Day celebrations commemorating the Soviet Union's defeat of Nazi Germany in the second World War. However, while in Tiraspol, Mr Rogozin was handed thousands of petitions signed by local residents seeking reunification with Russia. Moldova attempted to intervene, ordering special forces to confiscate the petitions and accusing the Russian delegation of "provocative declarations".