CHISINAU, 13 Feb: Moldova\u2019s President outlined Monday what she described as a plot by Moscow to use external saboteurs to overthrow her country\u2019s government, put the nation \u201cat the disposal of Russia\u201d and derail its aspirations to one day join the European Union.
\nPresident Maia Sandu\u2019s briefing comes a week after Ukrainian President Volody-myr Zelenskyy said his country had intercepted plans by Russian secret services to destroy Moldova, claims that were later confirmed by Moldovan intelligence officials.
\n\u201cThe plan for the next period involves actions with the involvement of diversionists with military training, camouflaged in civilian clothes, who will undertake violent actions, attack some state buildings, and even take hostages,\u201d Sandu told reporters at a briefing.
\n\u201cThe purpose of these actions is to overthrow the constitutional order, to change the legitimate power from Chisinau to an illegitimate one,\u201d Sandu said, \u201cwhich would put our country at the disposal of Russia, in order to stop the European integration process.\u201d
\nShe defiantly vowed: \u201cThe Kremlin\u2019s attempts to bring violence to our country will not succeed.\u201d
\nThere was no immediate reaction from Russian officials to Sandu\u2019s claims.
\nSince Russia invaded Ukraine nearly a year ago, Moldova, a former Soviet republic of about 2.6 million people, has sought to forge closer ties with its Western partners. Last June, it was granted European Union candidate status, the same day as Ukraine.
\nSandu said that between October and December, Moldovan police and its Intelligence and Security Service, or SIS, have intervened in \u201cseveral cases of organized criminal elements and stopped attempts at violence.\u201d
\nOver the past year, Non-NATO Moldova has faced a string of problems. These include a severe energy crisis after Moscow dramatically reduced gas supplies; skyrocketing inflation; and several incidents in recent months involving missiles that have traversed its skies, and debris that has been found on its territory.
\nMoldovan authorities confirmed that another missile from the war in Ukraine had entered its airspace on Friday.
\nSandu said that Russia wants to use Moldova in the war against Ukraine, without providing more details, and that information obtained by intelligence services contained what she described as instructions on rules of entry to Moldova for citizens from Russia, Belarus, Serbia, and Montenegro.
\n\u201cI assure you that the state institutions are working to prevent these challenges and keep the situation under control,\u201d Sandu said.
\nShe said that Moldova\u2019s Parliament must adopt draft laws to equip its Intelligence and Security Service, and the prosecutor\u2019s office, \u201cwith the necessary tools to combat more effectively the risks to the country\u2019s security.\u201d
\nThe President added that the plan would \u201crely on several internal forces, but especially on criminal groups\u201d and went on to name two Moldovan oligarchs, Ilan Shor and Vladimir Plahotniuc, both of whom are currently in exile. Both men last year were sanctioned by the U.S. and the U.K.
\nLast fall, a series of mass anti-government protests organized by Shor\u2019s populist, Russia-friendly Shor Party, also rocked Moldova amid the energy crunch.
\nThe President\u2019s press briefing Monday comes after the resignation on Friday of Moldova\u2019s Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita. The same day, Sandu appointed her defense and security adviser, pro-Western economist Dorin Recean, to succeed Gavrilita.
\nOn Friday, after Moldo-van authorities confirmed the missile incident, U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters in Washin-gton that \u201cRussia has for years supported influence and destabilization camp-aigns in Moldova, which often involve weaponizing corruption to further its goals.\u201d (AP)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CHISINAU, 13 Feb: Moldova\u2019s President outlined Monday what she described as a plot by Moscow to use external saboteurs to overthrow her country\u2019s government, put the nation \u201cat the disposal of Russia\u201d and derail its aspirations to one day join the European Union. President Maia Sandu\u2019s briefing comes a week after Ukrainian President Volody-myr Zelenskyy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-210889","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210889"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210889\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}