Moldovan separatist leader calls for military readiness

The leader of Moldova’s pro-Russian separatist Transdniestria region called on its defence and intelligence institutions on Monday to maintain a “high level of military preparedness” and hold regular drills for that purpose.
Transdniestria broke away before the 1991 Soviet collapse and fought a brief war against the newly independent state, one of Europe’s poorest countries lying between Ukraine and Romania.
For more than three decades, the sliver of land has remained on Moldova’s eastern fringe with little turmoil – 2,000 Russian “peacekeepers” remain on the line separating them.
But tension has been building since Moldova’s government introduced a duty in the New Year on imports and exports, part of its drive to join the European Union. The region, dependent on help from Moscow, says the duties hurt its businesses and Krasnoselsky has denounced it as a “mediaeval levy”.
“The Ministry of State Security and the Ministry of Defence are instructed to regularly hold drills and boost security on state borders through modern technical means,” Transdniestria’s president, Vadim Krasnoselsky, said in a broadcast address.