The representative of the EU Foreign Service, Peter Stano, said that Brussels would help Chisinau in the fight against Russia's influence on the situation in Moldova.

The European official made such a statement during a briefing.

“In recent months, we have seen that Moldova has become the target of Russian malicious activities of interference in internal affairs, disinformation, cyber attacks.

The purpose of this is clear: to undermine and destabilize the country, ”RIA Novosti quoted Stano as saying.

According to the official, EU experts are already working with their Moldovan counterparts to help combat “hybrid attacks, cyberattacks and disinformation.”

The European Union is also considering the possibility of creating a kind of “consultative civilian mission in Moldova,” Stano added.

Earlier, on March 10, in the Belgian capital, NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana met with the Minister of the Interior of Moldova, Anna Revenco.

Among the issues they discussed were ways to raise awareness among the authorities in Brussels and "hybrid threats from the Russian Federation."

It is noteworthy that a few days before the meeting with Revenko, in an interview with Romanian journalists, NATO Deputy Secretary General called on Chisinau to "be less afraid of Russia" and join the "democratic and prosperous world" represented by Europe.

"Increase Control"

According to experts, at present the policy of the West is aimed at keeping Moldova in the orbit of its influence.

To do this, against the backdrop of ongoing mass protests, the European Union, NATO and the United States are seeking to keep President Maia Sandu in power.

As explained in an interview with RT, Doctor of Political Sciences, Professor of the RANEPA under the President of the Russian Federation, Associate Professor of Moscow State University.

Lomonosov Natalya Kharitonova, now the West is trying to prevent the collapse of the republic's economy with the help of financial injections, but even more attention is paid to supporting the Sandu regime on the "information front".

  • Moldovan President Maia Sandu

  • AP

  • © Aurel Obreja

So, in the near future, an analytical center for strategic communications should be launched under the government of Moldova to combat disinformation.

On March 10, on the air of the Moldovan TV8 TV channel, the head of the commission of the Moldovan Parliament for culture, education, research, youth, sports and the media, Liliana Nicolaescu-Onofrei, said that the new structure is necessary for society and the state, as it will monitor the accuracy of published information.

“Firstly, this is strategic communication, truthful information from primary sources that can be provided to the public.

The second part is analysis, detection, confrontation, prevention and fight against disinformation,” Nicolaescu-Onofrei explained.

As Kharitonova suggests, the activities of the center for combating disinformation will be supervised to some extent by Western experts.

She sees his main task in “producing narratives” for local media and replicating anti-Russian content.

“Given the experience of functioning of similar organizations in other post-Soviet countries, we can conclude that the Moldovan Center for Combating Disinformation will be needed only in order for the media to present information in the “correct” way, especially that which comes from outside.

In practice, this means working to promote anti-Russian content through the media and the so-called opinion leaders,” Kharitonova said.

A similar point of view is shared by RISS expert Oleg Nemensky.

In an interview with RT, he noted that organizations that supposedly have to fight fakes are almost always funded "at the level of the EU and North Atlantic structures."

“The West fears the collapse of the anti-Russian regime of Maia Sandu.

Now it is in the interests of the US and the EU to block any information from Russia, to prove to the Moldovan population that only disinformation can come from Moscow, that Russia is the culprit of all problems.

Most likely, this center is being created by order of the West to strengthen control over the Moldovan information space, ”Nemensky emphasized.

It is noteworthy that the recent statement of the coordinator for strategic communications at the White House National Security Council, John Kirby, was devoted to the importance of information work in Moldova.

It was published on March 10 on the website of the US Embassy in Moldova.

  • Detention of protesters in Chisinau

  • RIA News

  • © Rodion Proka

“We shared with our Moldovan colleagues the information I presented, as well as additional details, so that they could further investigate, interfere and frustrate Russian plans (to interfere in the affairs of Moldova. - RT

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We will continue to work closely with the government of the Republic of Moldova in this direction,” said Kirby.

The American official promised Chisinau to continue "shedding light on the identities and activities of these Russian actors" and "prosecuting and punishing those associated with Russian mechanisms of destabilization."

According to Nemensky, the current statements of Western and Moldovan statesmen in the context of the “destabilization” of the situation inside the republic allegedly provoked by Moscow should be considered in the context of ongoing mass anti-government protests.

“There is a severe economic crisis in Moldova.

Prices for gas and electricity have increased several times, Moldovans are experiencing enormous difficulties in paying utility bills and are drowning in debt.

In many ways, this is where the roots of the political crisis and large-scale anti-government protests come from.

People don’t understand how to live on,” the expert says.

To a large extent, according to Nemensky, the situation in Moldova is aggravated by the actions of the US and the EU, which are trying to draw the republic into a confrontation with Russia.

At the same time, citizens and many political forces of the republic are aware of the unacceptability of such a scenario, the analyst emphasized.

According to a public opinion poll conducted in February by IMAS commissioned by Public Media, 73% of Moldovan citizens insist on maintaining neutrality, 70% are against breaking diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation.

Along with this, many Moldovans are dissatisfied with the policies of Sandu and the current government.

47% of respondents believe that the energy crisis and high inflation were the result of the incompetence of the authorities.

Also, most citizens consider it illegal to suspend broadcasting licenses for six Russian-language TV channels: Primul în Moldova, RTR Moldova, Accent TV, NTV Moldova, TV6 and Orhei TV.

“A significant part of Moldova would like to be on good terms with Russia and under no circumstances be drawn into the conflict in Ukraine.

People fear that Sandu and the pro-Western government will finally bury these hopes,” Nemensky explained.

"Under pressure from Western curators"

Experts recalled that mass protests have been regularly held in Chisinau since the end of last year.

According to the Moldovan authorities, Moscow and opposition forces loyal to it allegedly intend to carry out a coup d'état in the republic.

A large-scale anti-government rally took place on Sunday, March 12.

The demonstrators demanded the resignation of the leadership of Moldova and the repayment of debts for housing and communal services.

  • Vice-Chairman of the Shor Party Marina Tauber at a protest

  • Gettyimages.ru

  • © Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu Agency

On the same day, the head of the General Inspectorate of Police of Moldova, Viorel Cernauteanu, said that a Russian citizen was detained in the republic, allegedly on suspicion of coordinating groups that were preparing "mass riots" in Chisinau.

One of the main driving forces among the protesters is the Shor party.

She opposes the pro-Western course of Chisinau and insists that the government pay citizens' bills for housing and communal services.

This demand of the party was already supported by more than 700 thousand inhabitants of Moldova.

As party leader Ilan Shor said in a recent interview with RT, the Moldovan authorities must pay bills for three winter months.

According to the oppositionist, "the Sandu regime did absolutely everything to make the Moldovan people bankrupt in the truest sense of the word."

He also believes that in order to maintain power, Sandu can drag the country into a "military conflict."

“The second problem of our state is that Maia Sandu, under pressure from her Western curators, wants to literally drown Moldova in blood and drag her into the war,” Shor said.

As Natalya Kharitonova believes, the Sandu regime has indeed found itself in a very difficult position.

The policy of the president of Moldova is rapidly losing popularity, but she refuses to make concessions to the protesters and accuses the opposition of “realizing Russian interests,” the expert says.

“Sandu is pursuing the course for which the West put her in the presidency.

To support it, the West could provide Moldova with really serious assistance, but it has never been interested in developing the economy of the republic.

Therefore, we see that Sandu’s curators are primarily focused on combating “Russian influence”, and she has no choice but to blame Moscow for all the problems, ”concluded Kharitonova.