Moldovan citizens will vote this year in parliamentary elections. There is a risk that their vote will derail Chisinau's European course. Only time will tell how Europe will react, Vitalie Cojocari writes.

Moldova's breakaway Transdniestria region expects to receive Russian gas again soon to meet its needs, its leader Vadim Krasnoselsky said on Wednesday, two weeks into crippling power cuts in the Russian-backed enclave.

Transdniestria, a breakaway region of Moldova, anticipates resuming Russian gas supplies after intense power shortages. Moldovan prime minister accuses Russia of attempting to install a pro-Moscow government by limiting gas supply,

The crisis prompted a question: will the breakaway region, occupied by Russia since 1992, survive without Russian gas? Free-of-charge Russian gas had been the backbone of Transnistria's economy and ensured the preservation of the breakaway region and its de facto independence from Moldova.

Moldovagaz is ready to purchase gas for Transnistria at market prices "subject to payment of supplies in Moldovan lei." This was stated by the head of the company Vadim Cheban after the statement of the President of the PMR Vadim Krasnoselsky that Tiraspoltransgaz cannot purchase energy resources on the foreign market due to the "closure of accounts.

The Moscow-controlled breakaway region of Moldova will receive gas as a "humanitarian gesture" from the Kremlin, while the rest of the country will remain cut off after Russia halted supplies on 1 January,

Moldova's Moscow-backed separatist region of Transdniestria extended its state of emergency on Friday for another month as it grapples with an energy crisis after losing access to Russian gas supplies that had propped up its economy for decades.

The Kremlin said on Thursday that Russia was ready to provide gas to Moldova's breakaway Transdniestria region, but needed logistical support from Moldova to make that happen.