A pro-Russian group has been organizing protests against the Moldovan government for a good month. The demonstrators are demanding the removal of pro-European President Maia Sandu and blaming Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for the war in his country.

They also justify the actions of Russian President Vladimir Putin and criticize neighboring Romania, the EU and the USA for supporting Ukraine. The participants in the protest actions are brought to the capital by buses from all over the country and, according to their own statements, should receive the equivalent of 20 euros per day and 80 euros per night.

Moldovan investigative journalists have posted dozens of videos showing demonstrators, some in a drunken state, openly discussing the sums they have received.

The organizers of the protests accuse the Moldovan President of refusing to travel to Moscow and show her appreciation to Putin in order to get cheap Russian gas for her country. Moldova is almost entirely dependent on Russian gas supplies. Russia benefits from this dependency and charges a price four times higher than before the outbreak of the war on 02/24/2022.

Against this background, inflation in Moldova has increased by 35 percent. What’s more, there is a risk that the Russian energy giant Gazprom will completely shut down deliveries in the coming winter.

In a press conference on October 11, 2022, the Moldovan President severely criticized the machinations of the initiators. A “group for robbery and war” would have planned to destabilize the situation in their country in Moscow’s interests. The public prosecutor’s office has started an investigation.

The opposition party Shor, named after its party leader Ilan Shor, is said to be behind the organizers. He fled abroad in 2019, shortly before the collapse of the oligarch regime under Vladimir Plahotniuc.

Plahotniuc was also able to flee abroad before prosecutors began investigating him in a series of banking scandals. The two oligarchs are said to have worked in tandem from 2016 to 2019 and cheated the country out of several hundred million. Through corruption and bribery, Plahotniuc had a majority in parliament, subordinated the government and the judiciary.

Most of his henchmen now live abroad, mostly in London. He himself is said to be in Turkey, a country with which Moldova has no extradition agreement. Ilan Shor cannot be extradited either, he lives in Israel and has Israeli citizenship.

At the recent protests in Chisinau, Shor appeared on a large video board. In an interview with Russia’s Ria Novosti news agency, he said Moldova could only be “happy and prosperous” alongside Russia. Shor has been sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for bank fraud in the Republic of Moldova.

Now the Moldovan authorities are accusing him and other fugitives of jointly acquiring TV stations and online portals in the Republic of Moldova and of maintaining “geopolitical ties” with the Kremlin. Together with Russia, they are said to have the goal of overthrowing the constitutional order in the Republic of Moldova.

“The attempts at destabilization we’re seeing lately are the work of a robbery and war group afraid of prison and willing to set the country on fire to save their own skins,” the President said Sandu at the press conference.

These individuals promised Moscow to depose the country’s pro-European leadership and establish a new one that would allow Russia to drag Moldova into the war, she said, adding: “Have no illusions! You won’t make it! Treason will be severely punished!”

Against the background of the protests, but also the growing threat from Russian missiles that violated the airspace of the Republic of Moldova on October 10, 2022, the debate about the country’s neutrality status has flared up again.

“When deadly missiles fly over our country, we are obliged to protect our airspace – alone or with the help of our friends and neighbors,” Moldovan parliamentary speaker Igor Grosu told DW. It is not enough to describe oneself as a neutral state: “Neutrality must be defended!”

It was already clear at the beginning of the month that the EU and above all the neighboring country Romania, but also Germany, are taking the situation seriously. During a visit to Chisinau on October 1, 2022, German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht promised to help Moldova modernize its army. Bucharest and Brussels have also pledged support.

The same applies to the energy sector. From October 14th, 2022, Romania wants to supply electricity to Moldova after Ukraine stopped the supply due to the destruction caused by the heavy Russian shelling of the infrastructure.

In addition, Bucharest has decided to provide financial aid of 10 million euros. The money will be used to prepare for the approaching winter. The EU also wants to increase its aid.

“We are considering several options for Moldova to deal with the energy crisis,” said Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson on October 12, 2022 at a meeting with EU energy ministers in Prague. The EU is ready to provide increased support to the Republic of Moldova in the coming winter and beyond.

Author: Vitalie Călugăreanu, Robert Schwartz

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The original of this post “Protests for a handful of euros” comes from Deutsche Welle.