Oligarchs accused of helping to destabilize Moldova and potentially overthrow its pro-European government should be targeted with European Union sanctions, Estonia’s top diplomat said.
(Bloomberg) —
Oligarchs accused of helping to destabilize Moldova and potentially overthrow its pro-European government should be targeted with European Union sanctions, Estonia’s top diplomat said.
As the nation of 2.6 million wedged between Ukraine and Romania accuses Russia of seeking to foment violence and overturn the government, Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu said he’ll ask the EU to “establish restrictive measures and list these oligarchs who are acting in a way harming the security of Moldova” next week in Brussels.
“They are not sanctioned by the EU” despite a Moldovan request last year, Reinsalu said Saturday in an interview on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. He said any such measure could face “legalistic” barriers.
Moldovan President Maia Sandu, who has championed the country’s bid to join the EU and consistently accused Moscow of fomenting instability, last week cited fresh intelligence detailing a Russian plot. She said the Kremlin planned to use external military experts to trigger violent protests and bring down her government. She called for tightened security and “maximum vigilance.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry dismissed the claims as “unfounded and unsubstantiated.”
Sandu last week reshuffled her government, appointing a top security aide, Dorin Recean, as prime minister. Also attending the security conference in Munich, Sandu reinforced her message.
“There are multiple cyber attacks, bomb alerts all meant to destabilize Moldova and to bring a pro-Russian government,” Sandu said on a panel. A former World Bank official, Sandu called for additional air defense, but also help persuading social media platforms to halt the spread of Russian disinformation.
Among Europe’s poorest, the nation has come under intense pressure since the start of Russia’s invasion. The breakaway region of Transnistria, recognized internationally as part of Moldova’s territory, hosts a Russian military unit and a huge Soviet-era ammunition depot. Moldova was granted EU candidate status last year.
Moldova’s interior minister, Ana Revenco, said the coup plot uncovered this week was just the latest in a year-long campaign of destabilization by the Kremlin. Speaking on the sidelines of the Munich conference, she called for help from EU allies in boosting Moldova’s border controls, defense and cyber security capabilities.
“What is different is that this time the authorities are talking about it” as part of an effort to counter a barrage of misinformation, including claims that Sandu is seeking to involve Moldova in the war, Revenco said. She described efforts to persuade members of the security forces to turn on the government.
Revenco cited a series of anti-government protests organized by Moldovan oligarch Ilan Shor, who was convicted of fraud in 2019 and now lives in Israel. A Moldovan court found him guilty of masterminding a $1 billion theft from the country’s banks.
The US sanctioned Shor and eight other Moldovans last year, alleging that he had worked with Russian authorities to subvert Moldova’s democracy for years. Shor has dismissed the allegations and described the sanctions as proof that Sandu feared she would soon be toppled by street demonstrations.
The SHOR party plans a further protest on Sunday, according to its facebook page. The post said the party expected “provocations.”
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Reinsalu, who didn’t identify any oligarchs who would come under EU measures, referred to “one that is in Israel.”
Russia’s goal in Moldova would be to create a new front in its invasion of Ukraine, disrupting flows of grain and other goods to Europe and giving Moscow effective control of ports on the Danube, Revenco said.
–With assistance from Natalia Drozdiak.
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