Sawt Falasteen - Moldova keeps cool after Russia 'protection' call

Experts, likewise, do not expect the territory soon to become a new flashpoint in Moscow's conflict with neighbouring Ukraine.

- Is Chisinau worried? -

Moldova's government has been quick to reject "propaganda statements" from separatists on the sliver of land, which has been de facto controlled by pro-Russian forces since the collapse of the Soviet Union but is internationally recognised as part of Moldova.

"The Russian Federation, or rather the Kremlin, wants us to be scared... We can't allow them to do that. We have to keep our peace," pro-European President Maia Sandu told Jurnal TV on Thursday, assuring Moldovans they were safe.

At a rare special congress in Transnistria, lawmakers passed a resolution asking Russia's parliament to "protect" the region from mounting Moldovan pressure.

Moldovan Deputy Prime Minister Oleg Serebrian also told reporters during a briefing that "nothing spectacular happened in Tiraspol".

"We were ready to see these kind of messages, alarmist messages from Tiraspol" after Moldova introduced customs duties in January, he added.

On the streets of Chisinau, Moldovans said they were not overly worried.

"We don't have major concerns," Igor Druta, 40, an electrician, told AFP. "There are some tensions... but in general we keep calm and move forward thinking positively."

"We are very much protected," with the "dastardly war in Ukraine" creating a bulwark for Moldova, Tudor Balinschi, a 78-year-old retiree, told AFP, tears coming to his eyes.

- Is a Russian invasion likely? -

On Wednesday, Russia's foreign ministry said it was one of the country's priorities to protect "our compatriots", the residents of Transnistria, adding that it considered "all requests" for help.

But Russian President Vladimir Putin didn't mention Transnistria in his annual address to Russian lawmakers on Thursday.

Several experts told AFP that Transnistria was not a priority for Putin at the moment and they did not see signs of an imminent invasion or annexation.

"Vladimir Putin's Russia is much more focused today on the Ukrainian conflict than any other subject. There is no need for Russia to move the Transnistria map today," said Florent Parmentier, Moldova specialist at Sciences Po university in Paris.

He added Russia's policy towards Transnistria has been to use the region "as a vector of influence over the whole of Moldova to try to influence Moldovan political life".

- Why this call for protection now? -

Alexandru Flenchea, a former deputy prime minister, said Wednesday's meeting was "an exclusively local initiative" to get Chisinau to revoke import duties and thwart other economic measures they plan to carry out to "reintegrate" Transnistria.

For Parmentier too, the separatists' call for help aims to "create leverage" in their discussions with Chisinau.

Russia -- which has around 1,500 soldiers permanently stationed in the region -- props up Transnistria's economy with free natural gas.

But the breakaway republic of some 450,000 inhabitants has found itself increasingly isolated from Moscow since the conflict in Ukraine broke out.

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Moldova -- which borders Ukraine and EU member Romania -- is seeking to join the EU and has obtained EU candidate status.

But many of Moldova's 2.6 million people struggle in one of Europe's poorest nations.

"What worries me is the future of my child because it's not a good political situation, and we're constantly stressed," Eni Melnic, 32, a fashion designer, told AFP as she pushed her two-year-old son in a stroller.

"We always have it in the back of our minds that we have to leave, because we don't know what tomorrow will bring," she added.

O.Salim--SF-PST