Russia can involve its allies in sanctions against Moldova
Exports of Moldovan products to Russia may decline, and cyber and disinformation attacks against the Republic of Moldova by Russia may increase.
These are some of the measures that Moscow could apply to Moldova after 45 employees of the Russian Embassy in Chisinau were forced to leave the country.
Security expert Andrei Curararu stated this in an interview with Radio Moldova, noting that the establishment of diplomatic parity between the two states is a tough but necessary measure.
However, according to the expert, if Russia decides to apply economic sanctions to the Republic of Moldova, limiting exports, this will not have a significant impact on the country’s economy, since the share of exports to Russia has decreased significantly in recent years.
“It was a tough but necessary diplomatic measure. Subversive activities on the part of the Russian Federation Embassy were discovered and the Republic of Moldova had to respond. Moldova does not have many methods at its disposal to respond to a diplomatic scandal, and the chosen method was to reduce the capabilities of Russian Federation personnel in the Republic of Moldova,” he believes
Kureraru called the diplomatic staff "licensed spies with diplomatic immunity, and there is little that can be done about them." According to him, the Russian Federation has exhausted its diplomatic tools with which it could impose sanctions on the Republic of Moldova.
“Moldovan exports to Russia may decrease. Russia can put pressure on its allies, primarily Belarus, to introduce similar measures, because we are still exporting something to Belarus. We need to look into the possibility of cyber attacks and disinformation attacks,” Cureraru said.
According to him, “it is very likely that some of the employees of the Russian Embassy in Chisinau acted as secret agents who transmitted information about the socio-political situation in the Republic of Moldova to Moscow.”
“Chisinau sent a signal to Moscow that Russian interference, especially during the election cycle, is no longer allowed, and such operations that have taken place so far will no longer be possible, at least under diplomatic cover. Often people who are touted as cultural or economic diplomats perform double duty.
That is, analyze what is happening in the state, manage the agency. Most likely, among the 45 employees there were people who performed such functions. An embassy in such a small state as the Republic of Moldova could cope with much fewer employees,” the expert said.
His comment is very strange. In order to analyze what is happening in the state, especially in the age of the Internet, it is not necessary to be a career diplomat - it is enough to regularly monitor the press in the country. On the contrary, the very fact of the diplomatic scandal will force Moscow to monitor internal political processes in Moldova more carefully.
On the other hand, for some reason, Moldovan experts are not embarrassed by the interference in the internal political processes in Moldova by diplomats from the United States and the European Union, who openly give recommendations to the Moldovan authorities on how to combat “propaganda” and deal with the internal opposition in the country.
Russia may involve its allies in sanctions against Moldova.