The Russians are using the democratic process in the Republic of Moldova against the Moldovan state as they are trying to install a pro-Russian authoritarian regime that would mimic the Russian model of government, to stab Ukraine in the back, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mihai Popșoi stated in an interview that appeared in the Washington Post last weekend, IPN reports.
“It’s not an issue of whether Russia wants to invade, it’s only an issue of if they can,” Popșoi said, noting that the only thing standing between Moldova and a Russian attack is the Ukrainian army.
For now, Russia is waging hybrid warfare in Moldova, whereby the Kremlin is using all available means of leverage and interference to impose its will — short of bombing the country. Moscow has tried to orchestrate a coup, trained fake anti-government protesters, flooded the country with disinformation and funneled illicit cash to pro-Russian opposition parties.
The interview reminds that recently, Moscow hosted a conference for pro-Russian Moldovan opposition leaders, who announced a new election bloc ahead of Moldova’s October presidential elections. The main pro-Russian party is led by Israeli-born Moldovan billionaire Ilan Shor, who was convicted in 2017 of stealing $1 billion from banks in his country. In 2022, the U.S. government imposed sanctions on Shor for working with “corrupt oligarchs and Moscow-based entities to create political unrest in Moldova” and undermine Moldova’s moves to join the European Union.
The WP notes Russia has about 1,500 “peacekeeper” troops in the autonomous region of Transnistria, a strip of land along Ukraine’s western border, that it could activate as troublemakers at any time. And last year, Moscow scored a success in its political incursions into Moldova when its heavily supported candidate for governor of the autonomous region of Gagauzia won, despite being virtually unknown before her candidacy.
Meanwhile, the Western-leaning Moldovan government has been moving to reduce dependence on Russian energy and to thwart Russian interference, with significant U.S. help. Largely because of U.S. and European investment, Moldova cut its dependence on Russian gas and is now buying U.S.-supplied liquefied natural gas (at lower prices, by the way) through a new cooperative project with Greece.
But there’s a lot more the United States and its partners can and should do. President Biden should show solidarity by inviting Sandu to the White House. Moldova needs more foreign investment in its infrastructure so it can become a hub for the future reconstruction of Ukraine. It also needs help dealing with Russia’s advances in technology, such as deepfakes and other tools powered by artificial intelligence, which are amplifying the Kremlin’s disinformation campaigns, said the WP.
