The President of Moldova, Maia Sandu, assured this Friday that Russia tried to “overthrow the pro-European Moldovan government” in the spring to bring “Russian forces” to power.
“There were plans in the spring for the government to fall, but they failed, also because we had enough information”, indicated Sandu during an interview with the chain Moldova 1 TV.
The Moldovan president warned that “there will be more attempts” of this type given that “the Kremlin’s plans are obvious.” “They are looking for a change of government in Chisinau that favors a pro-Russian position and use Moldova against Ukraine in the war”, he asserted.
Last February, Sandu accused Russia of launching a “hybrid warfare” against the country to achieve the fall of the Government through protests against the authorities, accusations that were criticized from Moscow.
Sandu maintained that the purpose of the alleged Russian plan was to “overthrow the constitutional order, change the legitimate power of (the capital of Moldova) to an illegitimate one … which would place the country at the disposal of Russia in order to stop the process of European integration”.
The Moldovan opposition has been calling protests against the government since the summer of 2022, which they accuse of not coping with the economic crisis and high inflation.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine more than a year ago, Moldova — a former Soviet republic of some 2.6 million people — has tried to reach out to the West. Last June he was granted the status of candidate country for the European Union (EU), the same day as Ukraine.
Accession to the European bloc
According to the Moldovan president, her country wants to join the European Union (EU) “as soon as possible” to protect yourself from threats from Russia and hopes that the start of negotiations will be decided “in the coming months”, according to an interview for the news agency AFP.
“We believe that we can only save our democracy by being part of the EU,” he declared. Maia Sandú.
The little nation of 2.6 million inhabitantsSandwiched between EU neighbor Romania and war-torn Ukraine, it will hold its first major summit of the enlarged Europe on June 1.
The meeting of the European Political Communitya forum created last year that brings together the leaders of the 27 EU countries and 20 neighbors of the blocwill serve Moldova to polish its candidate credentials.
For Sandu, EU membership is the only guarantee not to become Russia’s next target.
“Of course, nothing is comparable to what is happening in Ukraine, but we see the risks and we believe that we can only save our democracy if we are part of the EUhe declared.
“We believe that Russia will continue to be a great source of instability in the coming years and we have to protect ourselves”, Sandu added, on the sidelines of the Council of Europe summit that concluded this week in Iceland.
“The Ukrainian war made things black and white. So it’s very clear what the free world means and what the authoritarian world means to all of us,” he said.
(With information from Europa Press and AFP)
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Source-www.infobae.com