News European Parliament Condemns ‘Malicious’ Russian Interference in Moldova

European parliamentarians adopted a resolution condemning alleged voter bribery, disinformation campaigns and political interference in Moldova by Russia, as the EU slapped sanctions on Moldovan pro-Kremlin politicians.

Members of the European Parliament voted on Wednesday by 508 to 53 with 104 abstentions for a resolution calling on Russia to respect Moldova’s independence and cease political interference ahead of presidential elections and a referendum on EU integration in Moldova on October 20.

The resolution denounced “voter bribery, cyber operations and information warfare”, according to the European Parliament website.

It said there were “a plethora of malicious actors, including pro-Russian Moldovan oligarchs and Russia’s state-funded RT network” involved in trying to sway voters against Moldova’s pro-European orientation.

The resolution noted that Moldovan security services have estimate that Russia has spent approximately 100 million euros to undermine the upcoming electoral process to get Moldovans to vote against closer ties with the EU.

The resolution came as the EU reportedly slapped sanctions on the pro-Russian governor of Moldova’s southern Gagauzia region, Evghenia Gutul, according to Radio Free Europe. 

Gutul, who claims her pro-Kremlin, anti-EU local administration in Gagauzia has the support of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has previously been sanctioned by the US.

She and other officials in Gagauzia were sanctioned for alleged attempts to destabilise the country in cooperation with the oligarch Ilan Shor. Convicted of large-scale fraud, Shor is currently a fugitive from justice and lives in Moscow, from where he has been seeking to influence the upcoming referendum.

The other official sanctioned were Yuri Cuznetov, deputy head of the department for external relations, Ilia Uzun, deputy president of the executive committee of Gagauzia, Mihail Vlah, deputy governor and press adviser to Gutul, and Evrazia, a pro-Shor organisation.

Gutul has not yet commented on the sanctions but said on X on Tuesday that “elections in Moldova have ceased to resemble any kind of democratic process” because of court cases against her and her allies.

In a separate development on Tuesday, a Russian-Ukrainian citizen involved in political activities on the part of pro-Russian parties in Moldova before the October 20 elections was deported to Ukraine after being arrested in Chisinau.

Ukraine’s security service, the SBU, said that the deportee, Dimitri Cistilin, 60, was “one of the Kremlin’s ideologues of the ‘special military operation’ against Ukraine”.

The SBU also stated that Cistilin is an assistant to Vladimir Putin’s former adviser, Sergei Glaziev, who was involved in the takeover of the Crimea, Donetsk and Lugansk regions of Ukraine and in developing an “‘information warfare strategy’ that justified the large-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia”.

Cistilin faces life imprisonment and the confiscation of his property in Ukraine if convicted.

Ukrainian intelligence officers stated that Cistillin interfered in the Moldovan elections through his involvement in organising a ‘March of Peace’ in Chisinau on October 6. 

At the march, priests prayed for the well-being of Victoria Furtuna and Vasile Tarlev, two candidates for the presidential elections who are alleged to be close to the Kremlin and the fugitive oligarch Shor.

Before Moldova, from September 20-22, Cistillin was in Bucharest, Romania, where he organised a discussion event involving Diana Sosoaca, an MEP with pro-Russian views, and as well Moldovan presidential candidate Furtuna.

The Chisinau authorities believe Russia’s interference in the presidential elections and in the October 20 referendum is intended to derail Moldova from its path towards EU membership.

Moldova was granted candidate status by EU in June 2022 and has set a target date of 2030 for accession.