Moldova’s President Faces Protests as New Pro-Russia Front Opens

Lina Grau and Andra Timu
·2 min read
25
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

(Bloomberg) -- Moldovan President Maia Sandu is facing rising domestic tensions ahead of key elections this year as protests in another Russia-friendly region — besides the breakaway Transnistria enclave — fuel concerns that Moscow is intensifying pressure to derail the nation’s pro-European path.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Sandu, who’s seeking another term later this year, was met with several hundred demonstrators backed by a pro-Russia party during a visit to the small autonomous region of Gagauzia on Wednesday. The protestors briefly clashed with police in the city of Comrat as Sandu met with students and mayors to denounce “cheap propaganda” against her government and lay out European Union-funded projects aimed at improving Gagauzia’s living standards.

Last week, Sandu also faced protests in the region at the start of works on a new power line to EU member Romania and members of the government have also been targeted by demonstrators, prompting police to bolster security.

Sandu has been subject to threats by pro-Moscow contenders as she tries to keep Moldova, a former Soviet republic that lies between Ukraine and Romania, on a path toward EU accession by the end of the decade.

New Front

The most recent challenge comes from the small region of Gagauzia, home to about 150,000 Turkic- and Russian-speaking Christians who fled the Ottomans in Bulgaria at the start of the 19th century, and which is becoming a new front used by Russia in its efforts to undermine Sandu’s government.

At the forefront is the region’s governor, Evghenia Gutul, who won the post last year with support from fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor and who has since received direct backing from Russia to continue her opposition to the authorities in Moldova’s capital, Chisinau. She visited Russia twice already this year, met with President Vladimir Putin and called for Moscow to protect Gagauzia’s people, alleging that the Moldovan government is limiting her region’s budget and breaching democratic rights.

After her most recent visit to Moscow this week, Gutul said that pensioners and state workers in Gagauzia will receive support of €100 ($107) from Russia from May 1 by opening accounts at Russia’s Promsvyazbank PJSC. Moldova’s government said the accounts could not operate in the country.

The state-controlled lender is the key bank for the military-industrial sector and was sanctioned by the US, UK and EU days before Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine after Moscow recognized the sovereignty of the Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics.

Sandu and her allies have repeatedly warned of Russian attempts to destabilize Moldova and halt its pro-European path. The pro-Russian separatist region of Transnistria recently reported incidents at its military bases that Chisinau said were meant to sow fear and panic. Meanwhile, pro-Russian media have promoted Gutul’s visits to Moscow, hinting that she may run against Sandu in the presidential elections.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.