The contacts of the President of the Republic of Moldova Igor Dodon with officers of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Russia of the so-called “Moldova office” in the Kremlin, mentioned in journalistic investigations as Kremlinovici, are inacceptable and represent a threat to national security, said security experts interviewed by Global Voices.
According to IPN, the commentators, among whom former employees of the Moldovan intelligence services, consider “throughout his term, President Dodon has frankly shown carelessness in matters of state security”.
Boris Gamurari, a former security services officer and former Moldovan Minister of Defense, stated that neither President Dodon nor those close to him know the golden rule of such a service — there can be friendly countries, but there cannot be friendly intelligence agencies.
Dumitru Manzarari, a research associate at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), said RISE Moldova's investigations were “extremely disturbing”. Dodon’s interactions with Russian officials make him look like an agent run from the Kremlin’s department covering Moldova.
“Moldova’s president needs to follow specific procedures to share classified documents with unauthorized interlocutors, in particular foreign officials. Similarly, coordinating his policies and actions with Russia is a questionable step, undermining the presidential office, Moldova's sovereignty, and national security,” said Manzarari, noting the interaction with Russian intelligence services and officials of the Kremlin, as the investigation says, seems to be a serious reason for a criminal inquiry into the threat to nationals security.
According to Ion Leahu, colonel in reserve of the Security and Intelligence Service of Moldova, if the President coordinates his speeches (which usually refer to foreign policy principles) with foreign intelligence services, this amounts to foreign interference in Moldova’s foreign policy. “If the prosecution service is independent, such situations should be the object of a study, but this is not the case in our country,” stated Leahu.
According to the documents published by the journalists from RISE Moldova and the Dossier Center, Moldovan politicians (including Dodon) would send to Moscow advance copies of the texts of their speeches for domestic and international consumption. Also, experts in political strategies arrived from Russia for the elections in Moldova. The spokesman for the candidate for President Igor Dodon said the information is “false”.
