Moldovan could be next to Russia

According to Col. Rosian Vasiloi, former head of the Border Police of Moldova, Transnitria s military force is armed, supplied and supervised by Russia. It is subsidized with Russian gas, electricity, and social programs such as pensions.

Transnistria's government, which has seceded, calls for Russia to annex it. If that happens, Moldova, which last year elected an openly pro-Western government, could be next, experts and local officials say.

Anatolie Golea, a political journalist and founder of the Infotag News Agency, said there were comrades here just waiting to be empowered. Most pro-Kremlin TransnistriansKremlin Transnistrians believe that they will take over the breakaway region with a population of over 450,000 without invasion or occupation, but simply through the changing of power, he said.

Russian influence will be huge in Moldova if they take the south of Ukraine through elections and through tensions on elections, he said.

Moldova is one of the poorest countries in Europe and is raddled with corruption.

The gross national income in Poland is around $13,600 compared to $31,600 in nearby Poland, according to the United Nations. It gets 100 percent of its gas and electricity from Russia. Russian troops are occupying part of its territory, and disinformation and viral messages have been bombarding it since the invasion of Ukraine.

Neither a member of NATO nor the European Union, it provoked the Kremlin's ire last year after a pro-European party founded by Maia Sandu, Moldova's first female leader, won elections on an anti-corruption platform. Prior to that, the country's political elite had been tied to the Kremlin.

A majority of Moldovans - 61 percent of the population according to a recent poll - share Sandu's vision of Moldova becoming part of the European Union, and Sandu signed a formal application for the E.U in March following the invasion of Ukraine. Sandu finds herself and her country exposed even more, despite vows to tackle corruption, clean house and foster European integration.

A significant minority - 31 percent - strongly opposes closer integration with Europe, according to a poll by Magenta Consulting.