Moldova’s Șansă (“Chance”) party, affiliated to Pro-Russian eurosceptic ex-MP Ilan Shor, sentenced to 15 years in prison in the “bank fraud” case and based in Israel, has been excluded from the Moldovan general local elections scheduled for 5 November, the Moldovan news website Newmaker reported.
According to Newsmaker, Moldova’s Prime Minister Dorin Recean announced this in an address to the people of Moldova. Recean said the Exceptional Situations Commission (CSE) took this decision.
“They want to break up our country, divide it, fuel separatism and throw it into chaos and violence. We have a duty to intervene and ignoring such attacks is not only immoral, it is against the law. The Russian Federation cannot enter Moldova with tanks, as it entered Ukraine, but it enters with organised crime (…) The decision of the SSC is taken for national security reasons in the context of a hybrid war waged by Russia in Moldova: the registration of the electoral candidates nominated by the Chance Party in the general local elections of 5 November 2023 is canceled,” Recean announced.
The Director of the Information and Security Service (SIS) Alexandru Musteață said at a press conference that Moldova is subject to hybrid attacks of unprecedented scale by Russia, through the organized criminal group led by fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor.
Musteață said Security forces have observed a significant escalation in attacks on state security, with a particular focus on undermining the electoral process. Notably, there are suspicions of substantial covert funding, exceeding 90 million lei ($5 million), aimed at influencing the electoral campaign of the Șansă Party, Newsmaker says.
Read also:
- Russia’s new foreign policy concept likely aims to back potential anti-Western coalition – ISW
- The spectre of the FSB haunts Moldova, next target of Russia’s hybrid war
- Russian plot to topple Moldova’s government directed from UK – The Times
- Russia denies authenticity of its leaked secret 10-year plan to destabilize Moldova – CNN
