The Deputy Prime Minister of Moldova Cristina Gerasimov informed that Russia invested almost €100 million in attempts to disrupt the presidential elections and the referendum on joining the EU.
This is reported by Bloomberg.
According to her, the Kremlin conducted disinformation and destabilization operations in Moldova, as well as bribed voters. Other officials in Chisinau have also noted in recent weeks a number of cases of apparent Russian interference in Moldovaʼs election process through sabotage and vote-buying.
"One thing should be clear to our partners: we are a testing ground for new methods — and everything that works in Moldova will be used in other countries," Gerasimov said.
Instead, the Kremlin categorically rejects accusations of interference in the presidential race in Moldova.
The President of Moldova Maja Sandu is running for the second term and is promoting her pro-European course in the EU referendum. The country is on its way to breaking the Kremlinʼs control over its energy resources and political system.
While polls show that the majority of Moldovans support joining the EU, the Kremlin is making unprecedented efforts to destroy the countryʼs democratic institutions. Among Russiaʼs actions is the potential incitement of violence with the help of weapons, explosives and drones, Moldovan police chief Viorel Cernautianu said. He also spoke about Kremlin-led sabotage plans involving more than 300 trained operatives used to provoke protests before the election. According to him, these plans were coordinated by groups associated with the late head of the Russian mercenary group PMC "Wagner" Yevgeniy Prigozhin.
Earlier in October, Cernautianu informed that the Kremlin paid almost 130 000 people (5% of Moldovaʼs population) to support pro-Russian politicians.
Gerasimov said that Russiaʼs priority is to prevent Moldova from joining the EU. To do this, Moscow spreads the narrative that membership in the bloc is tantamount to war. According to her, the invasion of Ukraine deters Moldovans from voting for joining the EU in a referendum.
She notes that the Russian Federation views the pro-Kremlin government in Moldova as a strong lever of influence in the war with Ukraine.
"The stakes in Moldova are quite high for Russia — they want to keep Moldova in the gray zone," Gerasimov said.
Meanwhile, the Russian Federation accuses the Moldovan government of conducting an "aggressive anti-Russian policy" due to the countryʼs desire to move away from Moscow and join the EU. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Moldovans "understand the abyss into which the current regime and its Western curators are leading them."
Moldova aims to join the European Union by 2030. The country is counting on the support of the West in the fight against Russian interference, in particular through a new strategic communications center aimed at combating disinformation. Moldovaʼs goal of joining the bloc by the end of the decade is quite ambitious, as the country will have to overcome many challenges on the way to EU membership, including corruption in the judicial system.
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