The proof that after kyiv appears Chisinau, on the list of Russia? According to an international consortium of journalists, Vladimir Putin had planned, even before invading Ukraine, to try to take control of Moldova, a former territory of the USSR, independent since the 1990s. In his desire to restore the Russian empire, the master of the Kremlin would have designed a plan, documented, to place the country under its influence, before 2030.
These media, including the German daily Suddeutsche Zeitungthe Russian opposition media Dossier Center, or the Ukrainian newspaper The Kyiv Independent, are based on a document, which would detail this imperialist program. It would come from the Russian directorate of cross-border cooperation, and would have been written in 2021. The idea? Raise popular resentment against NATO, especially through pro-Russian media and infiltrate the economy and politics with influencers pushed by the Kremlin.
But also: to ensure that the Moldavian territory of Transnistria remains a pro-Russian separatist region. Transnistria, populated by Russian speakers and home to key industries (energy, steel, cement), broke away de facto from Moldova in 1992 after a short war. Russia has since deployed 1,500 troops and a large Russian stockpile of ammunition there.
“They want to increase the number of Russian non-profit organizations here, they want to increase the number of students, they want a greater presence of the (Russian) language here. They want to increase their media capacity here,” denounced the Prime Minister of Moldova, Dorin Recean, on reading this document. A sign of the existing tensions in the country, his predecessor resigned on February 10, after a year and a half in power, citing a “lack of support and confidence”.
Arrests, and blackmail with Russian gas
Without a direct link having been established, on March 12, the local police announced the arrest of members of a network suspected of being orchestrated by Moscow. The alleged troublemakers are accused of having wanted to destabilize the country by intervening during the anti-government demonstrations which regularly shake the Moldovan capital.
“There is currently no imminent military danger against Moldova,” Anatolie Nosatii, Moldova’s Defense Minister, told AFP on March 13, while referring to “disinformation, tensions in the society generated by Russia”, “A set of provocations” intended to sow chaos and “change the political order”, a “hybrid war”, according to him.
In this “hybrid war”, the economic aspect would play an important role: Chisinau has been denouncing for several months “the energy blackmail of Russia”, which has halved its gas deliveries. The country is officially a candidate for the European Union, and hopes to integrate it in 2030, “the only chance” to build a country protected from Kremlin threats, according to Moldovan President Maia Sandu.
On March 15, two days after the publication of the document illustrating the Russian inclinations in question, Emmanuel Macron personally called his Moldovan counterpart Maia Sandu in the face of “Russian destabilization attempts” in this former Soviet Republic and the “tensions they cause “. Russia last month denied any coup plans, denouncing claims “absolutely unfounded and without evidence”.