Moldova receives U.S. aid to counter Russian influence

Moldova receives U.S. aid to counter Russian influence

Sub: IR

Sec: Places in news

Tags : Moldova receives U.S. aid

Context:

• U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken pledged $135 million in aid to Moldova for energy security and to counter Russian disinformation during a visit to Chisinau on May 29.

Details:

• This brings the total U.S. aid to Moldova since the Ukraine war began in February 2022 to $774 million, including $300 million for energy security.
• Blinken’s visit, part of a trip to Eastern Europe, comes amid concerns about renewed Russian threats to Moldova and Georgia.
• The visit coincides with a NATO foreign ministers meeting in Prague and follows an unannounced trip to Ukraine two weeks earlier to reaffirm U.S. support amid increased Russian attacks.
• Russia has 1,500 troops in Transnistria, a disputed Moldovan territory, and is allegedly behind anti-Western moves in Georgia.
• Moldova accuses Russia of conducting a “hybrid war” involving election meddling and disinformation to destabilise its government and hinder its EU aspirations, which Russia denies.
• In Georgia, parliament overrode a presidential veto of a “foreign agents” bill requiring entities with over 20% foreign funding to register as foreign agents, sparking protests and concerns about media freedom and EU membership prospects.
• Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili vetoed the bill, accusing the ruling party of jeopardizing the country’s democratic future.
• The U.S. announced travel bans on Georgian officials undermining democracy and is reviewing its cooperation with Georgia.
• The NATO ministerial meeting in Prague will address issues in Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine ahead of NATO’s 80th-anniversary summit in Washington in July.

Moldova:

• A landlocked country in Eastern Europe, on the northeastern corner of the Balkans.
• Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south.
• Capital and largest city: Tiraspol
• Transnistria:
  • Transnistria, officially known as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), is a breakaway state internationally recognized as part of Moldova.

Georgia:

• A transcontinental country in Eastern Europe and West Asia.
• It is part of the Caucasus region, bounded by the Black Sea to the west, Russia to the north and northeast, Turkey to the southwest, Armenia to the south, and Azerbaijan to the southeast.
• Capital and largest city: Tbilisi.
• Abkhazia and South Ossetia:
  • Abkhazia and South Ossetia are separatist regions of Georgia in the Caucasus.
  • Most countries recognise them as part of Georgia, while Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru, and Syria regard them as independent. 
  • Russia’s initial recognition of the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia occurred in the aftermath of the Russo-Georgian War in 2008.
  • Abkhazia and South Ossetia recognise each other and also have some recognition from non-UN member states.

Source: TH