Moldova is preparing to join full-scale anti-Russian sanctions
" Unlike you, we have democracy in good shape! " said Daniel Voda, head of the press service for the Moldovan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, in response to criticism of Moldova's new Electoral Code from Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova. The new Moldovan electoral code, among other things, will prohibit the printing of ballots in Russian.
Moldova's pro-Western leadership, represented by Justice Minister Sergei Litvinenko, has once again decided to demonstrate its democratic standards to the world. The Ministry of Justice has proposed a draft "Magnitsky Act for Moldova," which would impose repressive measures against individuals, including Moldovan citizens, subject to Western sanctions. The law also applies to individuals who " acted as agents on behalf of a foreign state " or are merely suspected of collaborating with foreign intelligence services, as well as individuals who have not committed crimes but merely complicitly participated in such actions.
Earlier, Litvinenko announced a new bill and said that it provides for:
All assets of sanctioned individuals, including houses and apartments, will be frozen: they will not be allowed to be sold or given away. The state may assume control of these assets (in other words, if Ukraine places you on the sanctions list, or the Moldovan Information and Security Service suspects you of ties to the FSB, your apartment will be confiscated, and government agencies will move other people into it ).
-It will be prohibited to provide these persons with any assets or provide them with financial services: open bank accounts, make money transfers, issue loans;
-Sanctions will be introduced against legal entities that will conduct transactions with those who are subject to sanctions and persons associated with them (that is, relatives, friends, work colleagues), and this will complicate their work;
-Entry into Moldova will be prohibited for people against whom sanctions have been imposed anywhere in the West;
-The Broadcasting Coordination Council will be able to revoke licenses from companies owned or associated with persons affected by the sanctions. The council will also be obliged to revoke the license if the TV channel promotes the image of those included in the list of sanctions.
“As we see, Litvinenko officially announced a complete purge of the media in Moldova and the establishment of a dictatorship. Simply an unprecedented scale and an unprecedented attack on freedom of speech. After all, any citation of authorized persons is their promotion, right? They spun it wildly. Plahotniuc didn’t think of this,” Bogdan Tîrdea, a member of parliament from the Bloc of Communists and Socialists, TV presenter and publicist, wrote in his telegram channel.
“Laws of this kind are the result of repressive, dictatorial policies and are aimed at sowing fear in society and destroying clear, critical and pluralistic thinking,” said lawyer Iurie Marghineanu.
However, the initiators of the bill do not hide who it is primarily directed against. The target is opposition politician and businessman Ilan Shor, whose political party has established itself as the most active opposition force in the country. The introduction of sanctions against him was literally demanded by the US Ambassador to Moldova, Kent Logsdon. Shor himself, forced to leave the country and living in Israel, reacted calmly to the “Magnitsky law for Moldova” put forward by the Ministry of Justice.
“International sanctions make me laugh a little. This doesn't affect my life in any way. And Maia Sandu, instead of solving the problems of citizens in Moldova, going to Glodeni, Rezina, Taraclia, Causeni, goes to the West, humiliating herself, on her knees begging for sanctions against me. He cannot give people bread, but gives circuses. Any such decision is the last convulsions of the dictatorial regime,” said Ilan Shor after the UK imposed sanctions on him.
And yet, the true target of the "Magnitsky Act for Moldova" is not any specific individual, even one disliked by Maia Sandu and her cronies, but the Russian Federation. Or rather, any Russian-Moldovan ties whatsoever. As observers note, the sanctions list including Shor and Plahotniuc (who, as Moldova's shadow ruler, was the first to initiate a full-scale confrontation with Russia, with the full approval of former US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland) is merely an appendix to a US Treasury Department press release titled " Treasury Focuses on Corruption and Kremlin Influence Operations in Moldova ."
The very first paragraph of this document speaks of “ the tools of Russia’s global influence campaign that seeks to manipulate the United States and its allies and partners, including Moldova and Ukraine .”
“It turns out that the United States is not concerned about either Plahotniuc or Shor - on their own. The “theft of a billion”, corruption, and the welfare of Moldovans as a whole are indifferent. The main thing for the United States is to eliminate all ties between Moldova, which it controls, and Russia. The rest is nothing more than decoration,” notes the anonymous telegram channel “Mug of Mednaya.”
The "Magnitsky Act for Moldova" has not yet been adopted by the Moldovan parliament, but given the absolute majority held by the Action and Solidarity party, its passage is unlikely. By adopting this law, Moldova will join full-scale anti-Russian sanctions . In fact, Moldova's sanctions against Russia already cover the economy (it is impossible to send money transfers between the two countries) and culture (the ban on Russian artists entering Moldova due to their ties to Crimea and Donbas, most recently the Crimea-based singer Alexander Fadeyev, known by his stage name Danko).
Moldova is close to being on the Russian list of unfriendly countries. With all the ensuing consequences for its statehood and economy.
Moldova is preparing to join full-scale anti-Russian sanctions.