Gagauzia will Ask Russia for Assistance if Chisinau Sends Forces into the Republic, Gutsul Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Apr. 10 -- Gagauzia will ask Russia for assistance of all kinds if Chisinau sends any military forces into the autonomy, Yevgeniy Gutsul, its bashkan (head) says, although she expressed the hope that the Moldovan authorities would not act in any way that might make such an appeal or such aid necessary.

            Tensions between Chisinau and Komrat and the involvement of Russia in this dispute have both increased over the last month. (For a discussion of these increases, see this author’s article at jamestown.org/program/gagauzia-plans-to-declare-independence-if-moldova-pursues-unity-with-romania/).

            And those tensions have only increased further with Gutsul making a second visit to Rusisa in less than a month, a visit some Russian commentators say has given Gagauzia financial independence (stoletie.ru/lenta/glava_gagauzii_snova_prijehala_v_moskvu_429.htm and vz.ru/world/2024/4/9/1262538.html).

            Gutsul’s latest visit to Moscow and her statement about asking Moscow to intervene have only raised the temperature still further, as has Chisinau’s decision to send a senior official to Komrat on the very day that Gutsul was in Moscow (trtrussian.com/novosti-moldova/glava-gagauzii-mozhet-poprosit-vvesti-vojska-17723623).

            In the past, when tensions have peaked, Chisinau and Komrat have found ways to back down; but with Moscow’s increasing involvement, the Gagauzia government may be less inclined to do so, raising the possibility that the situation in and around that Christian Turkic autonomy is now set to spiral out of control.