Sandu, Moldova’s pro-EU president, accused Russia of plotting a coup

• Russia’s war in neighboring Ukraine has put pressure on Moldova.
• Moldova’s president accused Russia of planning to use foreign “saboteurs.”
• Moldova, a former Soviet republic, relies on Russia for natural gas.

Moldova‘s president has accused Russia of planning to use foreign “saboteurs” to destabilize her pro-EU government.

On Friday, Maia Sandu named a new prime minister, Dorin Recean, who, like his predecessor, is pro-EU.

President Sandu stated the “plot” will involve “protests by the so-called opposition”, trying to “overthrow the constitutional order”.

Russia’s war in neighboring Ukraine has put pressure on Moldova, one of Europe’s poorest countries.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declared last week that Kyiv’s intelligence service had discovered a Russian plot to destroy Moldova.

Moldova, which is sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine, applied for EU membership last summer. The country of 2.6 million people has suffered from an influx of refugees from Ukraine as well as tensions with Transnistria, a breakaway pro-Moscow territory occupied by 1,500 Russian troops.

Moldova, a former Soviet republic, relies on Russia for natural gas. It has been without power for over a year, coinciding with Russia’s strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

President Sandu alleged Russia was planning to use “saboteurs with a military background, camouflaged in civilian clothes, to undertake violent actions, attacks on state institutions and taking hostages”.

The plot would involve citizens of Russia, Montenegro, Belarus, and Serbia entering Moldova, she told a news conference.

She urged Moldova’s parliament to adopt laws to give the country’s Intelligence and Security Service (SIS) and prosecutors “the necessary means to fight more efficiently against national security threats”. She added that “the Kremlin’s attempts to bring violence to our country will fail”.

Moldova’s main opposition Socialist and Communist alliance maintains strong ties to Moscow. Igor Dodon, President Sandu’s predecessor from 2016 to 2020, maintained close ties with Russia.

However, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Moldova has developed a closer relationship with Romania, an EU member.

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