“The Republic of Moldova is in full electoral campaign; the Russian Federation also; only we do it in our country, and Russia does not do so in yours, but in ours.” These words, pronounced this week for Doron Receanreflect the atmosphere of tension and distrust with which they go to the polls this Sunday to choose their parliament the inhabitants of the border Balkan State with Romania, an integral subject of the USSR between the end of World War II and the Soviet implosion in 1991. Repeating strategies already tested on previous occasions, the Kremlin has embarked on a new “orchestrated” campaign electoral interference although “More sophisticated”in the opinion of the War Studies Institute (ISW), which includes intimidation attempts, promotion of public disorders, vote purchase y PIRATEO OF INSTITUTIONS. The uncertainty about the results is maximum in this tense struggle that faces two exclusive political options: the Action and solidarity party (PAS), the pro -European formation led by the president Maia Sanduand the Patriotic blockthe Prorrusa coalition led by Professor Igor Dodon, investigated in multiple criminal cases, including the “high betrayal” in favor of Moscow.
Compared to the most last electoral appointments in the country, specifically with the adhesion referendum in the EU and the referendum on adhesion to the EU last October, the Russian interference “It’s older” y “It has improved His strategies, “says Chisináu for the newspaper Matteo PuglieseDebunk.org Senior Analyst, Lithuanian Organization of Disinformation Analysis. Specifically, Pugliese and his team have identified false news by Storm 1516, a misinformation group backed by the Kremlin that has already acted in countries such as Romania or Germany and that is dedicated to “steal” identities of real journalists and media to disseminate information that mining the credibility of the electoral process. “They do it in Romanian, trying to create false content to reach that part of public opinion that does not read Russian content” and therefore, favorable to continue the integration of the country into the EU.
Intimidation attempts
The intimidation attempts initiated from Moscow, with proliferation of false news regarding the possibility that the country will be “invaded” by NATO forces, is the order of the day. Last Tuesday, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) spread the “absurd” bully that “NATO plans to invade Moldova” with the objective of “instigating fear and antiucranian and anti -European feelings”, in addition to “giving justification to aggressive activities” of Russia, has denounced the ISW. The BBC, meanwhile, has exhibited a network financed by Russia that recruited Internet users to spread false content on Facebook and Tit Tok in exchange for a monthly salary of 3000 LEI, about 170 dollars, payment that would materialize through a Russian sanctioned bank. Without going any further, last weekend, the Vice Prime Minister Moldavo, Doina Nistor, denounced a cyber attack against the Central Electoral Commission, “a vulnerability” that, in his words, was being solved.
But the main fear at this time in Moldova lies in the possibility of exploding Episodes of violence Thanks to the action of local provocaters especially trained by Russian intelligence agents in neighboring countries. Last Tuesday, the Moldavas authorities announced the arrest of dozens of citizens, aged between the 19 and 45 yearswho had traveled to Serbia or the Srpska Republic, the Serbian majority entity in Bosnia-Herzegovina, to be prepared in the Organization of protests. According to Moldova intelligence, the operations were being led by a Gru agent, the Russian military intelligence, already He has organized “subversive activities” in Asia, Africa and the EU. Participants would have received a close sum at 400 euros for your participation in training.
Moldova was part of the USSR until its dissolution in 1991, and its integration in the West “is not an option” in the eyes of the current leaders of the Kremlin, he thinks in the CNN Oana Popescu-Zamfirdirector of the ‘Think-Tank’ GlobalFocus Center. “Russia is not willing to accept that such a small country, with so few resources, can look for its own path in such an asymmetric struggle against Russia and its (huge) resources,” he emphasizes. But, beyond political considerations, there are also strategic implications. “Kremlin’s goal is clear: Capturar Moldova Through the polls, use (the country) against Ukraine and become a platform to launch hybrid attacks Against the EU, “President Sandu prevents.
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