The dismemberment of the network of agents involved in treason and espionage is only the start of a broad process of identifying those who act against the national interests of the Republic of Moldova, said PAS MP Dan Perciun, who welcomed the sending to court of a criminal case started against a group of persons who aimed to destabilize the situation in Moldova. For his part, chairman of the Party “Dignity and Truth Platform” Dinu Plîngău said this case dates from 2019 and the state institutions needed four years to remit it to court, IPN reports.
Recently, the head of the Security and Intelligence Service (SIS) said the criminal case initiated against a group of persons involved in the organization of harmful activities against the Republic of Moldova was sent to court. The director of the Institute for European Policies and Reforms Iulian Groza said the law on intelligence and counterintelligence activities, which was given a second reading by Parliament, offers the SIS the instruments needed to counteract this phenomenon.
“Where the law is violated, the institutions need to intervene. For the purpose, they need to have all the necessary instruments. In the case of the FSB agents, the SIS should lay emphasis on counterintelligence activity so as to prevent such situations. The criminal proceedings last in any country. Parliament adopted a package of laws on the SIS, while the SIS, when it proposed this initiative, argued that it needs to have greater capacities to promptly intervene to prevent such situations,” Iulian Groza stated in the talk show “Secrets of the Power” on JurnalTV channel.
PAS MP Dan Perciun expressed his confidence that the annihilation of the network of Russian agents is only the beginning and all those who serve the interests of other states will be yet identified and punished.
“It is encouraging that the SIS identified probably a small part of the network of Russian agents that definitely has existed and worked for many years here. Sufficient evidence was collected to start a criminal case on treason and this is commendable. I have a reasonable expectation that this is only the start as I’m sure that the Russian network in the Republic of Moldova does not consist of only one or two persons. The sum of €500,000 mentioned by the SIS is definitely lower than the amounts provided to different destabilizing forces in the Republic of Moldova. It is surely worrisome that high-ranking politicians from our country have close relations with FSB agents,” said Dan Perciun.
Dinu Plîngău noted that the actions taken by the SIS are late as they have known since 2019 about the presence of Russian citizens, who were suspected of being FSB agents, at the head office of a Moldovan party.
“This case was identified in 2019. They periodically spoke about it. A pertinent question is, why do the authorities move on so slowly? The Shor Party is now the Russian Federation’s main player and the provided money derives not only from the bank fraud, but also comes from oligarchs from the Russian Federation. The money was mainly brought through the agency of the Chisinau International Airport. The case announced by the SIS director was transmitted to court only. This could also be a PR action as the end result can be as in the case of the athletes who came to the Republic of Moldova to destabilize the situation. Have you heard something about that case?” asked Dinu Plîngău.
According to the SIS chief Alexandru Mustață, starting with 2020, a group of persons consisting of Russian citizens Iurie G. și Vadim Y had recruited Moldovans and created a network of agents in Moldova in the interests of Russia’s FSB. The goal of the network was to influence the sociopolitical processes in Moldova in Russia’s interests, to maintain Moldova’s dependence on the Russian Federation and to conduct information operations to model public opinion.
