The self-declared independent nation separated from Moldova after the collapse of the Soviet Union (Image: Getty)
has been accused of manufacturing an energy crisis in a breakaway region of to create instability and exert pressure on .
Transnistria broke away from the country in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.
The region has close links with and is home to 1,000 Russian troops who are currently based in the area.
Since January 1, hundreds of thousands of people have been left without heating and hot water after ’s state energy firm Gazprom ended gas exports to the region when a long-term agreement to transit gas through neighbouring ended.
Prime Minister Dorin Recean has accused local authorities of exploiting the issue to ferment instability, claiming that offers of assistance from his government have been ignored.
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Moldova’s PM Dorin Recean has accused local authorities of exploiting the dispute (Image: Getty)
He said: “This is a security crisis that , through weaponisation of energy, is trying to induce in the region.
“They halted the gas supply to the region that they control, including through the fact that they have illegally stationed military troops there and they do not allow anyone to help the region.”
Recean added that he believed that the crisis could ultimately help reconcile relations between his country and the self-declared independent nation.
He told reporters: “Our objective is to reintegrate the country. And this should start from the fact that had to withdraw its troops so that we can properly administer it. We are here to offer a peaceful solution to this conflict.”
has also called on the area to stop “stonewalling” efforts to help ease the crisis by providing gas from alternative sources.
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The region has its own armed force committed to maintaining its “independence” (Image: Getty)
Anna-Kaisa Itkonen, the EU’s spokesperson for energy and housing, said that a working group has been set up and is “monitoring” the situation.
She said: “We keep having regular exchanges with Moldovan authorities to mitigate any consequences of the end of Russian gas supplies to the country.”
The lack of gas leaves hundreds of thousands of people without heating at a time when average temperatures in the country are as low as -7C.
Anatolii Dirun, assistant professor at Tiraspol’s School of Political Science, believes that Transnistrian is hoping to wait out the standoff until Moscow provides them with a solution.
He said: “I think it could be happening in maybe one week, maybe two weeks, and in this way the authorities prefer to wait a couple of weeks for when interferes and solves this question.”