CHISINAU, March 10 (Reuters) – A coup attempt, bomb hoaxes, internet hacks, fake conscription call-ups, mass protests: Moldova says it’s had them all in the past year.
“We had an explosion of security threats starting February 24 last year,” Interior Minister Ana Revenco told Reuters, describing a catalogue of crises she says has beset her nation and its pro-Western government since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
This small European country, a former Soviet republic, is a unique geopolitical cauldron.
Moldova hosts the breakaway statelet of Transnistria – a sliver of land running along its eastern border with Ukraine that’s controlled by pro-Russian separatists and garrisoned by Russian troops. The country is also home to the semi-autonomous region of Gagauzia, which is overwhelmingly pro-Russian too.
Moldovan officials paint a picture of a nation under constant duress from a misinformation and propaganda campaign orchestrated by Moscow which they say is designed to destabilize and undermine the government of President Maia Sandu, elected in 2020 on a promise to seek membership of the European Union.
Revenco said it was an “informational war”.
“It puts a very strong pressure on the psychological resilience of the population,” she added.
The Moldovan government did not provide evidence to support its allegations of a Russian-led dirty tricks campaign and Reuters was unable to independently verify its account of events.
