The political scientist pointed out the desire of the Moldovan authorities to deprive Transnistria of independence.

The Moldovan authorities are seeking to deprive Transnistria of independence. This was stated on July 14 in an interview with Izvestia by the head of the Ukraine department of the Institute of CIS Countries, political scientist Ivan Skorikov, commenting on information that the President of the Republic of Maia Sandu intends to transfer her country under the control of NATO.

"The goal will be to incite Moldova to eliminate the independence of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic and the autonomy of the Gagauz Republic," the source said.

He also pointed out that the Moldovan Constitution already establishes a course towards European integration, which was approved as a result of a "fabricated European referendum" last fall.

"Parliamentary elections are taking place this fall, and since Moldova is a parliamentary republic, this course towards an uncontested movement to the West, including integration into the European Union and NATO, has actually become the election program of Sandu and her party," the expert said.

He expressed concerns about possible electoral fraud, noting that if the authorities can deceive society and fake the results of the vote with the help of "dead souls" and manipulations with foreign districts, they will try to introduce a course towards NATO into the constitution of Moldova. This could lead to the suppression of the opposition, and all dissatisfied people could be declared traitors and separatists, Skorikov added.

As for Russia's possible retaliatory measures to Moldova's rapprochement with NATO, the political scientist believes that Moscow has limited opportunities to influence the republic. According to him, the successful conduct of a special military operation and access to the territory of the Odessa region, adjacent to Transnistria, could be the most effective steps.

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On the same day, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) reported that NATO countries were turning Moldova into a new military container for conflict with Russia. In addition, they are forcing Chisinau to switch to Western concepts of warfare.