Russia has opened a fast-track path to citizenship for residents of Transnistria, the breakaway sliver of Moldova that has operated outside Chisinau’s control since a short war in the early 1990s. A decree signed Friday by President Vladimir Putin, reported by Russian state media and detailed Saturday by the Associated Press, waives standard requirements for permanent residents of the region who are 18 or older — they no longer need to prove knowledge of the Russian language, Russian history or Russian legislation, and are exempt from the usual rule that applicants must have lived in Russia for five years.
The Kremlin said the measure was taken “in order to protect the rights and freedoms of individuals and citizens, guided by the generally recognized principles and norms of international law,” according to a translation of the report published by Russian outlets.
Transnistria declared independence after a brief conflict with Moldova in 1992, but its sovereignty is not recognized by any United Nations member country, including Russia. Nevertheless, the territory’s government is financially and politically dependent on Moscow, and it hosts a permanent military garrison of roughly 1,500 Russian troops. The large majority of the population of about 470,000 speaks Russian as a first language. An estimated 200,000 already hold Russian passports, though most also carry Moldovan citizenship.
Moldova, which emerged from the Soviet Union in 1991, has steadily oriented itself toward Western institutions and is a candidate for European Union membership. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the country has endured a cascade of destabilizing pressures: errant missiles have landed on its territory, Moscow dramatically curtailed gas supplies, inflation soared, and pro-Russian parties staged protests against the pro-European government. Moldova has also absorbed more Ukrainian refugees per capita than any other nation.
The simplified citizenship process adds a new layer to Moscow’s influence in a region that remains formally part of Moldova but has long operated as a Russian client state.