War between Ukraine and RussiafileMoldovan President Maia Sandu took the threat of a Russian coup seriously and announced on Monday 13 February that her country’s security measures would be stepped up. The Kremlin denies any “plan to destabilize” the country.
She fears “violent attacks” and “hostage-taking”. Moldovan President Maia Sandu, outlining Moscow’s alleged plans to overthrow the pro-European power in Chisinau, announced an increase in security measures. “The plan involves attacks on state buildings and kidnappings by saboteurs with a military background, disguised in civilian clothes,” Maia Sandu told the press.
After this attack, the Kremlin en bloc denied and denied any “plan to destabilize Moldova”. The Russian Foreign Ministry claims that these claims are “absolutely unfounded and without any evidence”. And at the same time accuses Ukraine of being the source of this “disinformation” to fuel tensions between Moscow and Chisinau.
This information, mentioned by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Brussels last week, comes from documents intercepted by the Ukrainian intelligence services. Moldovan intelligence then confirmed the information without giving details, saying it had “identified activities aimed at weakening and destabilizing this former Soviet republic of 2.6 million people between Romania and Ukraine.”
“The goal is to overthrow the constitutional order and replace the legitimate power of Chisinau with an illegitimate power,” the head of state, who has been in office since December 2020, added today. In her speech, broadcast by the Moldova Matters media, she points to the consequences of such a reversal: on the one hand stopping her country’s “European integration process” and on the other hand the use of Moldova “by Russia in its war against ‘Ukraine'”.
In her opinion, the Kremlin is relying on “the participation of internal forces” such as the party of the fugitive pro-Russian oligarch Ilan Sor, but also possible Russian, Belarusian, Serbian and Montenegrin nationals. In this context, Maia Sandu announced a draft law aimed at giving prosecutors and secret services “the necessary tools to effectively combat national security risks”.
According to Moldova Matters, the public disclosure of this sensitive information by the Moldovan authorities could be a way “to stop the conspirators and their local collaborators from pursuing their plans”.
Rocket in the Moldovan sky
Moldova, a candidate for membership of the European Union since the summer of 2022, has been mired in crises since the start of the war in Ukraine and has been denouncing “Russia’s energy blackmail” for several months, which has halved its gas supplies. Chisinau also has to deal with the threat of Russian soldiers and a large Russian stockpile of ammunition in the pro-Russian separatist region of Transnistria.
On Friday, the Defense Ministry spotted a projectile believed to have been fired from the Black Sea, which flew over two villages en route to Ukraine. Immediately the Russian ambassador in Moldova was summoned. A decision that, according to a press release, is intended to “protest against the unacceptable violation of our airspace by a Russian missile”.
“The safety of citizens and the country is our primary concern and we will do whatever is necessary to protect peace and public order. The Kremlin’s attempts will not succeed,” the president concluded on Monday, assisted in this task by a new prime minister, Dorin Recean. After a year and a half at the head of a country marked by economic turmoil and the effects of the neighboring war, her predecessor Natalia Gavrilita actually resigned three days ago.
To update : February 14 at 10:38 with statements from the Russian Foreign Ministry.