As part of the agenda of the Foreign Affairs Council on Monday, April 24th, EU foreign ministers discussed sanctions for individuals “accused of fomenting unrest in Moldova,” Politico reported. Following in the footsteps of the U.S. and the UK, EU officials could be presenting a package later this week.
After a series of Russia-backed demonstrations shook the country’s capital Chișinău, Moldovan Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu argued that the individuals behind them needed to be held personally accountable:
We have several oligarchs who effectively stole money from Moldova and are using it to wreck domestic politics and derail it. It is vital that we fend off these attempts, and that we continue our efforts to reform Moldova by limiting the influence of corrupt politicians … Very clearly, there are coordinated attempts between these oligarchs and Russia.
The sanctions will most likely target Moldovan oligarchs such as Ilan Șor and Vladimir Plahotniuc as well as their closest circles. In particular, Moldova is pushing for Șor to be extradited from Israel, as he—and his Eurosceptic and Russophile ȘOR Party (formerly known as the Socio-Political Movement “Equality” but renamed after the oligarch in 2016—has been identified as primarily responsible for the demonstrations and general unrest in the past months.
Last month, Moldovan police appeared to have thwarted an insurrection attempt—financed and coordinated by Russia—which would have used the veil of the protests to ignite a fire aimed at bringing down the government and install a Kremlin-friendly coalition instead.
Moscow’s involvement in the aggressive destabilization process of the former Soviet republic was later confirmed by two leaked documents as well. The one from the Kremlin revealed that Russia was planning to transform Moldova into a quasi-protectorate by 2030 by ensuring through covert operations that the country “has a negative attitude towards NATO and [it] has a strong presence of pro-Russian influence groups in politics and the economy.”
The other, more recent confirmation of malign Russian activities on the ground was delivered by the leaked Pentagon papers earlier this month. One of the documents showed that the U.S. intelligence community believed that Russians “plotting against Moldova intend to continue their efforts despite recent public revelations about their activities.”
Furthermore, the Pentagon documents also revealed that the Russian private military company Vegacy Strategic Services (in coordination with the Wagner-linked disinformation group, “The Farm”) was planning to hold protest training in Turkey but later opted for an unspecified location in Russia. The two-month training, which was specifically intended for over 150 participants to then be sent to Chișinău, was planned to involve “lessons on starting protests, security service reaction to riots, first aid, and psychological training on what to do if caught.”
