On June 4, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin met in Moscow with Nina Shtansky, the “foreign minister” of Moldova’s breakaway region of Transnistria. To justify why the meeting bypassed and excluded Moldovan representatives, the Russian press-release identified Shtansky as “the political representative of Transnistria... MORE

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin visited Chisinau and Tiraspol for the first time on April 16-17 in his additional role: as Russia’s presidential envoy “for Transnistria,” and chairman on the Russian side of the Russia-Moldova inter-governmental economic commission. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime... MORE

On April 16-17 Dmitry Rogozin, Russian Deputy Prime Minister overseeing the arms industry, visited Chisinau and Tiraspol for the first time in his parallel capacities: Russian presidential envoy “for Transnistria” (po Pridnestrovyu) and chairman on the Russian side of the Russia-Moldova inter-governmental cooperation commission. Russia’s... MORE

On March 21, outgoing President Dmitry Medvedev appointed Dmitry Rogozin as Special Representative of the Russian President for Transnistria (“po Pridnestrovyu”). Undoubtedly, Medvedev acted at the behest of the incoming president, Vladimir Putin. On that same date, Putin – in the final days of his... MORE

On March 16, 2012, the Moldovan parliament elected Nicolae Timofti as state president, a post technically vacant since April 2009. Proposed by the governing Alliance for European Integration (AEI, comprised of three parties), Timofti garnered 62 votes, one more than minimally necessary in the 101-seat... MORE

In theory, and even by certain practical criteria, Moldova should qualify as Exhibit One for successful democracy promotion in non-western societies. All elections held in Moldova from 1991 to date were internationally certified as free and fair (“democratic process”). Indeed, the opposition defeated the incumbents... MORE

Moldova’s parliament is scheduled to elect a head of state on March 16 – the eighth presidential election attempt since 2009. The state presidency has been technically vacant for almost three years. Since April 2009, Moldova has held three parliamentary elections, seven presidential election attempts... MORE

Yevgeny Shevchuk’s election as “president” of Transnistria in December 2011 ended the 20-year rule of Igor Smirnov, belatedly replacing a Soviet with a post-Soviet leadership group. Shevchuk defeated the Kremlin-picked candidate (the Supreme Soviet’s fossilized chairman Anatoly Kaminski). Moscow campaigned to remove Smirnov as a... MORE

Six years to the day since their collapse (February 28, 2006), official negotiations on the Transnistria conflict were supposed to restart in Dublin in the 5+2 format (Russia, Ukraine, OSCE, United States, European Union, Chisinau, Tiraspol). The Dublin meeting on February 28-29, 2012 was to... MORE

Yevgeny Shevchuk’s victory in Transnistria’s “presidential” election is an opportune development for Russia, at the opportune moment. Moscow was slow to comprehend this, but will almost certainly act accordingly from this point onward. The Kremlin dumped Transnistria’s “president,” Igor Smirnov; supported the almost equally antiquated... MORE