Russian leader Vladimir Putin is trying to destabilise Moldova using similar tactics that he has followed in Ukraine as he believes the country “belongs to him” says an expert
Vladimir Putin believes Moldova “belongs to him” and is now trying to destabilise the country to bring about his aims, says an expert.
Moldovans voted by a razor-thin majority in favour of securing the country’s path toward European Union membership, after the pro-Western president accused foreign interference and “criminal groups” of trying to undermine the vote in the former Soviet republic. A loss would have been a political disaster for the pro-Western government, which strongly supported the pro-EU campaign. And the “no” vote appeared to be ahead until the final few thousand votes were counted with finally a 50.39% majority voting to enshrine joining the EU.
President Maia Sandu claims that unprecedented voter fraud and foreign interference had undermined the voting, calling it a “vile attack” on Moldova’s sovereignty. “Unfortunately, the justice system failed to do enough to prevent vote-rigging and corruption,” she told a news conference. “Here, too, we must draw a line, correct what went wrong, and learn the lesson. We heard you: we know we must do more to fight corruption.”
It has been alleged that Wagner fighters have been training up pro-Russian Moldovans in so-called guerrilla camps in Serbia to protest against the government. And Orysia Lutsevych, Deputy Director of the Russia and Eurasia Programme at Chatham House said that Putin has been trying to destabilise Moldova.
She told The Sun: “[Putin] is consistent in his vision, that it [Moldova] belongs to him, and, as we see with Ukraine, he’s willing to take high losses, pay a high, high price.” Ms Lutsevych compared Putin’s tactics to those he used in Ukraine to destabilise the country and bring about a pro-Russian government.
“It’s similar to how Ukraine was before the 2013 uprising, where Russians were trying to get their way politically and by corruption by buying in voters,” she said. The two regions of Transnistria and Gagauzia are pro-Russian and it is claimed that Putin is using these areas as a “springboard” for his plans.
Ms Lutsevych said: “He’s interested in Moldova as a whole and these territories would only be as a ways to get his goals to the to control. I think he may use these territories as clubs to incapacitate Moldova first and then eventually get it in full-fledged control.”
Moldovan authorities have also claimed that Moscow has intensified a “hybrid war” campaign to destabilise the country and derail its EU path. The allegations include funding pro-Moscow opposition groups, spreading disinformation, meddling in local elections and backing a major vote-buying scheme. Russia has repeatedly denied it is interfering in Moldova.
Moldova applied to join the EU in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of neighbouring Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and was granted candidate status that summer, alongside Ukraine. Brussels agreed in June to start membership negotiations.
In Brussels, the EU’s executive branch, the European Commission, said its services had noted “unprecedented interference and intimidation by Russia and its proxies, aiming to destabilize the democratic processes” in Moldova, and it underlined its continued support for Moldova on its EU accession path.
Spokesperson Peter Stano told reporters that allegations of vote-buying, the bussing of voters and disinformation are only the most recent forms of Russian interference, and that attempts to undermine Moldova and its support for the EU have been going on for months.
