Moldova leader unveils Russian ‘plot’ to topple government
- President Maia Sandu was speaking a week after Zelensky said Ukraine had intercepted plans by Moscow to destroy the former Soviet republic
- Since Russia invaded Ukraine, Moldova has worked to forge closer ties with Western partners and has been granted EU candidate status
Moldova’s president outlined on Monday what she described as a plot by Moscow to overthrow her country’s government using external saboteurs, put the nation “at the disposal of Russia” and derail its aspirations to one day join the European Union.
President Maia Sandu’s briefing comes a week after neighbouring Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country had intercepted plans by Russian secret services to destroy Moldova, claims that were later confirmed by Moldovan intelligence officials.
“The 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,” Sandu told reporters at a briefing.
Since 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 EU candidate status, the same day as Ukraine.
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Sandu said the alleged Russian plot’s purpose is “to overthrow the constitutional order, to change the legitimate power from [Moldova’s capital] Chisinau to an illegitimate one”, which she said “which would put our country at the disposal of Russia, to stop the European integration process”.