Kremlin on Maia Sandu’s warning: “Russia has experience occupying foreign territories”
Moldovan authorities firmly reject the latest claims by Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) that the EU and NATO are preparing to “occupy Moldova.” Government spokesperson Daniel Vodă called the statements “crude falsehoods and a hysterical reaction” from the Kremlin, aimed at fuelling fear and undermining citizens’ trust in the country’s European path.
European Union, a “space of peace and prosperity”
“Russia has a record of occupying foreign territories, while the European Union expands to welcome countries into the space of peace and prosperity. The country’s leadership has warned that Russia floods our information space daily with crude falsehoods. The so-called ‘alerts’ about alleged EU plans to occupy Moldova are nothing but a hysterical reaction to President Maia Sandu’s message yesterday. Their goal is clear: to scare people and undermine trust in our European path. With Sunday’s decisive vote, Moldovans will freely choose the country’s direction,” said Government spokesperson Daniel Vodă.
On Tuesday, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) spread a series of conspiracy theses, claiming that Europe is preparing to occupy Moldova. The Russian state agency TASS also reported that NATO is allegedly concentrating troops in Romania and the Odesa region “to intimidate Transnistrian region.”
Another narrative pushed by Russian propaganda suggests that “the EU is seeking revenge on little Moldova and might attempt to rig the elections.”
Moscow’s statements came a day after President Maia Sandu urged citizens to stay vigilant, warning that Moldova’s European future is “at risk” and that if Russia were to gain control of the country after the elections, “the consequences would be direct and dangerous” for both Moldovans and the wider region.
“If Russia takes control of Moldova, the consequences will be direct and dangerous for our country and the entire region. All Moldovans will suffer, no matter who they voted for. Europe will end at Moldova’s border. EU funds will stop at the Prut. Freedom of movement could disappear. Our land could become a launchpad for infiltration into the Odesa region. Transnistrian region would be destabilized. These are their plans, and they say it openly,” Maia Sandu stressed.
According to the president, Moldovan citizens have a duty to keep the country peaceful, away from war and Russia’s attempts to attack or destabilize other states, and to defend it “through honest voting, with a clear mind.”
Authorities in Chișinău accuse Moscow of deploying, including through the Șor group, multiple schemes inside Moldova to influence the outcome of the September 28 parliamentary elections and derail the country’s European path. Since the start of the campaign, daily searches have led law enforcement to seize tens of millions of lei that the Șor criminal organization allegedly planned to use for the illegal financing of pro-Moscow candidates and voter bribery.
Vote-buying is not the Kremlin’s only method of trying to derail Moldova’s European course. Numerous NGOs and media outlets have documented, through studies and investigations, the scale of disinformation campaigns spread via social networks in the run-up to the September 28 elections.
