INTERVENSI RUSIA TERHADAP KONFLIK MOLDOVA-TRANSNISTRIA (2014-2018)

Moldova, which is a poor country in Europe, a fraction of the Soviet Union, has been beset by a series of challenges since its independence in 1991. The difficulties of the inevitable challenges of the first years of independence had a negative impact on the socio-economic situation of the country. Meanwhile, Russia as a former Soviet Union country which inherited two-thirds of the territory with its heritage and power, is very ambitious to dominate the region and the countries of the former Soviet Union. Russia's efforts to regain dominance are carried out through the Eurasian Union project, which is Russia's regional hegemony project to return to being a major power in the Eurasian region, and have influence in a multipolar international system. The existence of a re-unification plan between Moldova and Romania poses a major threat to Russia. If this is realized, NATO will be closer to placing its military base in the Moldova region, which is the entry point for NATO's expansion and western ideology. To suppress this, Russia intervened in the Moldovan area on the grounds of its sympathy for Transnistria, which has the same ethnicity, thus supporting the Transnistria separatist movement and pressuring the Moldovans from all directions. The Russian market has held a key position in the entire system of foreign economic relations of the Republic of Moldova, and Russia is the main trading partner of Moldova with the main sector of their relations being in the economic sphere. Russia dominates the energy and banking sectors, accounting for a large proportion of its foreign investment, and is also a major job market for Moldovan expatriate workers. This is what makes Moldova unilaterally dependent on Russia. Realizing this position, Russia took advantage of the existing situation to put pressure on the Moldovan side. In recent years, Russia has used instruments to exert further economic pressure on Moldova in a more affirmative and confrontational manner, through a political capital investment mechanism which takes advantage of Russia's strengthening political and economic conditions and the dependence of the Moldovan economy on a transitional economy.