Status: 03/12/2023 5:42 p.m
Thousands of people demonstrated again in Moldova against the pro-European government and high gas prices. Local authorities suspect a Russian-controlled group is behind the ongoing protests. Seven suspects were arrested.
According to the police in Moldova, they have exposed a pro-Russian network. Police chief Viorel Cernauteanu said an undercover agent had infiltrated groups whose members were partly Russian citizens.
The authorities in Moldova acted after being informed about “destabilizing actions by Russian secret services” which were to be organized “by means of demonstrations” on Moldovan territory.
The members of the infiltrated groups were promised US$10,000 if they would stir up riots to destabilize Moldova. After raids on Saturday night, 25 men were questioned and seven arrested, Cernauteanu said.
54 arrests at protest in capital
Thousands of people once again took to the streets in the capital Chisinau to protest against the pro-European government and high gas prices. According to the police, they arrested 54 demonstrators.
Among them are 21 minors. The suspects had shown “questionable behavior” and some were carrying prohibited items, including at least one knife, police said.
“We are the people,” shouted the demonstrators. They accuse the Western-backed government of being haphazard. The deputy leader of the opposition party Sor, Marina Tauber, criticized that the police had used violence. She also complained that access routes to the demonstration in the city had been blocked. That is why many were prevented from exercising their right to demonstrate.
People wave Moldovan flags at the protest in Chisinau.
Image: dpa
Oligarch Shor’s party supports the protests
There have been repeated protests in recent weeks. Among other things, the demonstrators are calling on the government to take over all energy bills in winter. Many Moldovans complain that a year after the start of the Russian war of aggression, gas costs three times as much because it is bought indirectly and very expensively. In addition, Moldova must not be drawn into a war and Moldovan President Maia Sandu should resign.
According to local authorities in Chisinau, the protests are said to be coordinated by the two pro-Russian oligarchs Vlad Plahotniuc and Ilan Shor. The police are investigating both of them on suspicion of corruption. Shor, who fled abroad, founded his own party – the Shor Party. This publicly supports the protests.
Four bomb threats in Moldova
Police said there had been four bomb threats, including at Chisinau International Airport, as part of “destabilization measures” against the country.
On Friday, the USA accused Russia of promoting the destabilization of the Republic of Moldova, among other things through artificially fueled protests. The Kremlin wants to “weaken” the country’s government and foment an “insurgency” against it, said US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.
1500 Russian soldiers in Transnistria
As a neighbor of EU member Romania and Ukraine, the completely impoverished agricultural country of Moldova has traditionally been torn between the West and Russia. More than 30 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russian is still a common everyday language.
In recent years, however, the country has made a pro-Western turn, which has met with criticism in Moscow. In the summer of 2022, Moldova was granted the status of an EU accession candidate.
On the border with Ukraine lies the self-proclaimed Republic of Transnistria, a breakaway strip of land controlled by pro-Russian separatists, which has its own government and administration. Around 1,500 soldiers of the Russian army are stationed in the region, which according to international law still belongs to Moldova.