Russia conducting a hybrid war in Moldova with protests and cyber attacks.
Russia is trying to destabilise Moldova by sponsoring protests and conducting cyber attacks, the country’s prime minister said. “We are seeing elements of hybrid war.
We are seeing, for example, pro-Russian forces trying to destabilise the country politically through paid protests which quickly subsided when the oligarchs that fled Moldova were put on the sanctions lists and their money flows were restricted,” Natalia GavriliÈ›a said.
“We are seeing cyber attacks. We’ve had the biggest cyber attacks in 2022 in the history of our country, and we are seeing bomb threats”.
“A lot of the situation in Moldova will depend on the evolution of the war in Ukraine. We see the brave Ukrainians being very resilient and fighting for the security not only of their country, but also for the security of Moldova and for wider for the values that we as Europeans profess,” she added.
She said that the country’s security is highly vulnerable to events unfolding in neighbouring Ukraine, with the war putting Moldova’s economy, energy security and social stability under great strain.
Moldova is high on the list of at-risk states, as Russia has numerous openings to exploit its economic and energy dependence. Before the war, the small country imported all of its gas from Russia, but Gazprom has since severely reduced deliveries.
“We were expecting growth of 5% in 2022 and instead we saw a decrease in economic growth by 5.5%. We have very high inflation and for example, the tariff for gas went up seven times, the tariff for electricity went up three times.”
The EU Commission proposed €145 million in new funding just last week and said it will continue to support the country’s economy and energy security.