The panic about the anticipated shortage of oil and food products is artificial and forms part of information warfare that is designed to generate chaos and destabilization in Moldova. A war in the 21century means a lot of disinformation, besides a lot of suffering, and Moldova is seriously affected by this phenomenon, said experts.
According to them, the war in Ukraine is a real shock for the budgets of the countries of the region and the Republic of Moldova is directly affected from economic viewpoint. However, the Ukrainian authorities’ decision to ban many types of exports should not make the citizens besiege shops as the panic around the shortage of food, pharmaceutical and oil products is artificially induced.
“It is a tragedy and a negative shock for the economy. The war reveals the economic vulnerabilities accumulated during the 30 years of Independence. There are no reasons for panic about the products. The problem of logistics, of supply of products from Ukraine can be solved during several days by importing products from other states. Even if the battlefield is in Ukraine, the information warfare covers a much wider area. We must be ready for new attacks designed to stimulate panic in society,” executive director of the Independent Think Tank “Expert-Group” Alexandru Lupușor stated in the talk show “Good Evening” on the public TV channel.
According to Iulian Groza, a member of the Supreme Security Council, the false information about the shortage of oil products or the state’s incapacity to provide the population with food products is part of a disinformation campaign that is intensely promoted in all the states of the region.
“This impulse of the people is a reaction to disinformation or amplification of panic related to the shortage of salt, for example. The same happened on the oil products market. A similar situation is seen in Romania and Bulgaria. It is very clear that it goes to a concerted campaign that supplements the other false information about the conscription, banning of men from leaving the country, warning about the testing of alarm systems. These things form part of the same campaign whose goal is to generate panic, which can generate chaos and destabilization,” said the IPRE executive director Iulian Groza.
Media experts noted the disinformation that is so widespread in Moldova forms part of the hybrid warfare. Executive director of the Association of Independent Press Petru Macovei said such phenomena can be counteracted by increasing the education levels of the population.
“A war means a lot of suffering and destroyed lives. But a war in the 21st century also means a lot of manipulation and disinformation. The modern wars imply not only tanks, but also pencils. During these 16 days, we have witnessed an unprecedented wave of disinformation on the part of the Kremlin about this aggression. This war should also mean greater resistance on the part of the citizens and the state to disinformation. This resistance comes from general education. We have a serious problem with many citizens who do not read and to not inform themselves and who believe rumors rather than facts,” stated Petru Macovei.
