Russia has been waging a hybrid war against the Republic of Moldova and the informational component is the most visible part of this war, said Romanian political pundit Iulian Chifu. According to him, Russia’s goal is to change the narratives in Moldova’s information space and put pressure on the Moldovan authorities. Russia uses Gagauzia’s leadership as an instrument to destabilize Moldova, IPN reports.

The Romanian expert noted that Russia’s attacks on the pro-European government are intensified with the approaching presidential election and constitutional referendum. The Kremlin uses several tools of the hybrid warfare to put pressure on Chisinau, propaganda and disinformation being the most important of these.

“The most visible and growing component is hybrid in nature. It goes to information warfare, which is the attempt to control the public space, to modify narratives. On this segment, the Republic of Moldova has slowly begun to build some reaction tools. It also goes to the war component in the field of legislation, to the use of gaps in the legislation to pressure and force situations. It effectively goes to elements of aggression. Elements that are not legitimate, like a demonstration in front of a venue where a civil society forum was taking place. People who didn’t know very well why they were protesting were protesting there. Half of the people in the street were children and probably didn’t even know what they were supposed to do. This type of actions can be included in the category of elements of aggression,” Iulian Chifu stated in the talk show “Emphasis on Today” on TVR Moldova channel.

According to the Romanian political pundit, the acolytes of fugitive politician Ilan Shor are used as tools to destabilize the situation in Moldova. The expert gave as an example President Maia Sandu’s visit to Comrat and the protests with which the head of state was met in the south of the country, while the governor of the region was in Moscow.

“Lately, we have seen an increasingly visible descent from the arena to the street both of the President and the Prime Minister - meetings, presences, including in Gagauzia, at the right level. Who is to blame when the President comes to your administrative unit and instead of welcoming her and guiding her among the citizens, you boycott her? That’s blameworthy, not for the President, but for the leader there. You isolate yourself and show that you are out of the state,” said ulian Chifu.

President Maia Sandu last week paid on a working visit to Comrat, where she met mayors from the Gagauz autonomous unit. The head of state delivered a speech on the advantages of EU accession in front of students and professors of the Comrat State University. The President was met by a group of protesters who chanted anti-government slogans.