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Kysia Hekster & Chiem Balduk
EU correspondent and foreign editor, from Moldova
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Kysia Hekster & Chiem Balduk
EU correspondent and foreign editor, from Moldova
“Would you like to raise children in Moldova?” Asks 58-year-old Olga. She is furious, she clearly does not expect an answer. She sums up: “Gas, petrol, food. Everything is getting more expensive in this country. Those in power must be replaced, that’s the solution.” She is determined to demonstrate today in the capital Chisinau, against the country’s pro-EU stance. Again, because the protests have been going on for months.
The Moldovan authorities fear that today’s protest day will be turbulent. According to the police, there is evidence that “riots and mass disorder” are imminent. On the eve of the protest, police warned that “no provocation will be tolerated”.
It is not entirely clear how strong pro-Russian sentiment is in Moldova, and to what extent the demonstrators take to the streets entirely of their own accord. But according to Moldovan, Ukrainian and US intelligence agencies, Russia is trying to fuel violent protests in the country. This would be apparent, among other things, from intercepted plans for a coup. Since then, Chisinau has been alert to who enters the country. The border police has this year already 2600 foreigners denied entry to the country, including “saboteurs who want to destabilize Moldova”.
Instability has long been feared in Moldova, which is sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine. Because of the country’s rapprochement with the EU, Russia is trying to destabilize Moldova in all kinds of ways, the government says. “Ukraine is being attacked directly by Russia, and Moldova by indirect means,” said former deputy foreign minister Iulian Groza at his office in Chisinau.
Costs down with peace
At the heart of the anti-government protests is the oligarch Ilan Sor and his Sor Party. According to him, Moldova has plunged into a deep crisis because of the outspoken support for Ukraine. His small opposition party is the subject of multiple criminal investigations, including for inciting unrest and paying Moldovans to take to the streets. It is therefore not clear who will take to the streets on their own initiative.
The town of Orhei, an hour north of Chisinau, is Sor’s stronghold. As mayor, Sor made himself immensely popular by refurbishing the city partly with embezzled money and building an amusement park with free entrance. Today, Sor resides abroad, due to a sentence of years in prison due to a banking scandal.
In Orhei not a bad word about former mayor Sor. People are especially angry about the increased costs. “It’s very difficult for pensioners like me,” says Aleksander Komorowski in the park around the corner from a special Sor supermarket. Bread is sold there for a subsidized price. “Thanks to Sor.”
The conversation about increased prices quickly turns to the war in Ukraine, the neighboring country 30 kilometers away. If there is peace, prices will fall, he says. “We are for peace so that we are not drawn into war.” A neighbor, also named Aleksander, is adamant: “The Americans started the war, but let others fight it out.”
Hybrid war
Both gentlemen go to the protest in Chisinau with buses from the protest organization. Only at the last moment does it become clear when they will be picked up. “Last time our bus was stopped outside the city, so we ended up not being able to go to the meeting.”
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Olga wants to be at the protest in Chisinau. -
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Aleksander forgets Orhei
Such security measures are used by the Sor Party to accuse the Moldovan government – consistently referred to as ‘the regime’ – of gross human rights abuses. “The government has launched a wave of intimidation, blackmail and persecution of citizens to thwart the protest,” the party said.
The “unfair” treatment of the Sor Party feeds Russian state media, which are consumed in Russian-speaking parts of Moldova. It is one of the many weapons of Russia’s ‘hybrid warfare’ against Moldova, says former minister Groza. “Every way is being tried to destabilize the country, from cyber attacks and bomb threats to fake news and disinformation.”
Support EU
As an example, he cites the various stories in Russian media about alleged Ukrainian attack plans on Transnistria, the pro-Russian breakaway region in eastern Moldova. For example, Ukraine would like to rob a poorly maintained ammunition depot in Transnistria, or kill the leader of Transnistria. Kyiv spoke of “complete nonsense” and “predictable lies”.
Moldova is trying to counter disinformation by suspending Kremling-affiliated media, among other things. But it can do little to allay discontent in the country, which is wider than Sor’s supporters. The economic and political situation in the country is too unstable for that.
“Russia is exploiting Moldova’s vulnerabilities and fueling existing tensions,” Groza said. After all, the breeding ground for destabilization is great, in a country where, until the Russian invasion of Ukraine, half of the population had a positive attitude towards Russia.
“But”, says Groza, “most Moldovans want to stay far away from the protests. Support for the EU’s course is only increasing.” Although that sound will not be the dominant sound in Chisinau today.
