Moldovan PM Resigns Blaming Crises Caused by Russian Aggression – The pro-Western government of Moldova has stepped down after being in power for 18 months, due to a series of economic and political turmoil triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The prime minister, Natalia Gavrilita, told a news conference on Friday that the “time has come for me to announce my resignation,” adding that no one could have expected her government “to manage so many crises caused by Russian aggression.”
Hours earlier, the government announced that a Russian missile had entered Moldovan airspace and called for the Russian ambassador to express their protest. Moldova’s intelligence service said on Thursday that Russia was acting to destabilise the country, after the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said Kyiv had intercepted a “plan for the destruction of Moldova” by Russian intelligence.
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“Subversive activities with the aim of undermining the Republic of Moldova, of destabilisation and violating the public order were identified,” the country’s Intelligence and Security Service (SIS) said in a statement. The SIS statement said the agency could not give any further details “because of the risk of jeopardising different ongoing operational activities,” adding it wanted to “reassure Moldova’s citizens that all the state’s institutions are working.” The president, Maia Sandu, accepted Gavrilita’s resignation.
“Thank you so much for your enormous sacrifice and efforts to lead the country in a time of so many crises,” Sandu said. “In spite of unprecedented challenges, the country was governed responsibly, with a lot of attention and dedicated work.” It is expected that Maia Sandu’s preferred successor, her pro-European security advisor Dorin Recean, will be approved smoothly.
The former Soviet republic, which has a population of 2.5 million people, has been facing numerous issues, such as a high rate of inflation, a significant increase in the number of Ukrainian refugees, and an energy crisis that has resulted in power outages after Russia drastically reduced its supplies. Last year, steep price hikes, especially for Russian gas, sparked street demonstrations in the small country situated between Ukraine and Romania.
Protesters demanded the resignation of the government and the president. In August 2021, 41-year-old economist Maia Sandu was appointed after her pro-Western party, the PAS, won elections on a pro-EU and reformist platform. In 2020, Sandu was elected in a landslide victory, also on a pro-European and anti-corruption platform. “I took over the government with an anti-corruption, pro-development and pro-European mandate at a time when corruption schemes had captured all the institutions and the oligarchs felt untouchable,” Gavrilita said.
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“We were immediately faced with energy blackmail, and those who did this hoped that we would give in. I believe in the Moldovan people. I believe in Moldova. I believe that we will be able to make it through all the difficulties and challenges.” EU leaders accepted Moldova as a membership candidate last year in a diplomatic triumph for Sandu. Russia, however, has troops in Moldova’s breakaway region of Transdniestria and opposes any move to join the 27-nation bloc.