EU engagement with contested territories as a solution for conflict resolution. A case study of the Transnistria region

Since 2014 when the Association Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Moldova was signed, a shift of Transnistria business from the Russian and CSI markets to the EU one is noticed. The Association Agreement impacted the preferences of Transnistria migrants from Russia to countries such as Italy, Germany, Great Britain, and Poland by offering a visa free status to Transnistria inhabitants with the Republic of Moldova’s passports. International factors such as Russian annexation of Crimea and its full-scale invasion of Ukraine has continued this trend contributing to the de-isolation of the unrecognized Transnistria region.

Nevertheless, Transnistria is known as a being a “Russian client” and part of the Russian “civilizational space”. Its population has been exposed for decades to the Russian policy of “compatriots”. Based on these arguments, the discussion will explore the EU engagement without recognition policy’s impact on the foreign policy of the region and its population. Through close examination of local media outlets, available migration data and in-site research, the author seeks to understand how and if the sense of belonging to the Russian “civilizational space” is shaped when interacting with European values and culture.

Tatiana Cojocari is Disinformation Expert at WatchDog.MD Community, a Chișinău-based think tank in the Republic of Moldova. Her current role focuses on supporting the decision-making process with strategic communication and evidence-based policymaking.

She is a Fulbright and Aspen Socrates Leadership program alumna. Her work covers the foreign policy of the Russian Federation in the Eastern Partnership countries, de facto states and conflict resolution in the Black Sea Region, and political sociology. She has a PhD in Russian Religious Diplomacy in Eastern European countries.

Previously, she was a consultant for international organizations such as the World Bank Group, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, the European Commission and was a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Romanian Centre for Russian Studies working on the Transnistria topic and Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) in the Republic of Moldova and Romania.