Moldovan citizens were trained in Moscow, as well as in Bosnia and Serbia, including by Wagner fighters, to destabilise Moldova, the Moldovan police, the Security and Intelligence Service (SIS), and the prosecutor’s office said in a joint statement on Thursday.
More than 300 people attended training camps in Russia, travelling in groups of 20, where they were taught how to stir rioting at protests and resist law enforcement, Viorel Cernăuțeanu, head of the General Police Inspectorate, said at a press conference on Thursday.
The news comes as the country’s ‘foreign agents law’, continues to stir debate as well as criticism from the EU. The law, adopted by the government in spring 2024 means that all NGOs and media must register as entities that serve foreign interests, if more than 20% of their income comes from abroad.
The press conference also took place just days before a referendum on amending the constitution to allow the country to join the EU and presidential elections, for which polls put incumbent President Maia Sandu in the lead.
Moldova applied for EU membership in March 2022, was granted candidate status in June 2022, and received a recommendation from the European Commission to open accession talks in November 2023. Recent polls show that a majority of Moldovans support constitutional changes to pave the way for Moldova’s accession to the EU.
The financier behind these operations is allegedly Ilan Șor, a Moldovan oligarch with Russian citizenship currently residing in Moscow after being convicted of corruption in Moldova.
The training began in June 2024 and has taken place regularly in Russia. As part of the operation, small teams of 20 are being sent to the outskirts of Moscow, where they receive instruction in protest tactics, including how to provoke law enforcement, confront security cordons, seize objects or weapons from officials, and quickly retreat into crowds, Cernăuțeanu explained.
On Wednesday, officers and prosecutors conducted 88 searches across the country, leading to the arrest of four individuals.
In addition, another group was reportedly trained in guerrilla camps in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia, with their travel funded by Ilan Shor under the guise of the NGO Eurasia, according to Alexandru Musteață, director of the Intelligence and Security Service.
“These camps were led by foreign instructors connected to entities associated with the Wagner private military group and another group called ‘Ferma,’ previously established by Yevgeny Prigozhin. Although Prigozhin’s leadership has changed, these entities remain active,” said Musteață.
Shor was also involved in vote-buying schemes, reportedly offering payments to voters who would cast a ‘no’ vote in the referendum on EU membership.
Provocateurs trained in these camps were tasked with organising protests and carrying out violent, radical, and even extremist actions during the elections.
The foreign nationals linked to the Wagner and Ferma groups are among the coordinators of these actions, the intelligence services said.
In addition, the authorities have identified 11 foreign nationals who assisted as instructors in the training camps in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia, Musteață added.
(Catalina Mihai | Euractiv.ro)
Source: euractiv.com
