Pro-Russia protesters take to streets in Moldova to denounce new government

Sursa: Pixabay

Several thousand protesters rallied in Moldova’s capital Sunday to demand that the country’s new pro-Western government fully cover citizens’ winter heating bills amid a cost-of-living crisis and skyrocketing inflation.

The protest was supported by members of the Russia-friendly Shor Party, which holds six seats in the former Soviet republic’s 101-seat legislature.

Some demonstrators alled for the resignation of the country’s pro-Western president, chanting “Down with Maia Sandu!” Others held placards with the faces of some Moldova’s leaders and politicians placed next to photographs of large homes and fancy cars.

„They have millions. We are dying of hunger,” they said.

Energy bills here now consume more than 70% of household income, according to Moldova’s president.

Most protesters traveled to the capital city Chisinau by bus, with their costs reportedly covered by the Sor party.

Days before the gathering took place, President Maia Sandu warned that Russia was plotting to send military-trained sabateurs disguised as civilians, to topple her pro-Western government.

Last week, Ms Sandu described what she claimed was an alleged plot by Moscow to overthrow the government in order to put the nation “at the disposal of Russia” and to derail it from its course to one day join the European Union.

Russia strongly denied her claims.

A series of anti-government protests initiated by the Shor Party rocked Moldova during the fall as a severe energy crisis gripped the country after Russia dramatically cut natural gas supplies.

The party’s leader, Ilan Shor, is a Moldovan oligarch currently in exile in Israel. He is implicated in a 2014 $1 billion bank theft and was recently named on a US State Department sanctions list as working for Russian interests.

The US says Shor worked with “corrupt oligarchs and Moscow-based entities to create political unrest in Moldova” and to undermine the country’s bid to join the EU.

 

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