(7 Mar 2022) As Moldova continues accepting growing numbers of refugees from Ukraine it is also warily watching Russia's intensifying war with its neighbour.
Russia has troops that are stationed in the disputed territory of Transnistria and they are being closely watched as Russian President Vladimir Putin presses ahead with the invasion of Ukraine.
Although it has no plans to try to become a member of NATO, Moldova formally applied to join the European Union at the beginning of March in a fast-track bid to bolster its ties with the West.
Transnistria is a Russia-backed region of Moldova that broke away after a short civil war in the early 90s.
Transnistria is unrecognized by most countries and has maintained an estimated 1,500 Russian soldiers there since the civil war ended.
So far the small western-leaning former Soviet republic government has not confirmed any Russian activities in Transnistria.
Moldova, a country of 3.5 million, Europe's poorest, sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine, proclaimed its independence from the Soviet Union on August 27, 1991.
More than 230,000 people have fled into Moldova from Ukraine since the war began 11 days ago.
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