The U.S. imposed sanctions on a group of people linked to Russian intelligence who it said had helped the Kremlin destabilise Moldova’s democratically elected, pro-Western, government through protests in the Moldovan capital earlier this year. Moldovan oligarch Ilan Shor is the leader of Moldova’s Moscow-friendly Shor Party, which has held recurring anti-government protests since last autumn. The protesters have demanded that the government fully subsidise citizens’ winter energy bills during a cost-of-living crisis and “not involve the country in war.” The goal of these destabilising operations is taken as an effort to weaken support for democratic governments and principles. Shor currently lives in Israel.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has blacklisted seven members of a group linked to Shor, who fled Moldova in 2019 to evade corruption charges. In February, Moldovan President Maia Sandu accused Moscow of plotting to use the protests to topple her government.
Last month, a pro-European rally was held in Chisinau, where tens of thousands converged to express their support for the government and the country’s path towards the EU. The U.S. Embassy in Moldova explained the sanctions by saying that “Moldova’s future is in Europe,” adding that “there are outside forces that do not respect the choices the Moldova people have freely made.” The U.K. added Shor to a sanctions list in December.
Shor was sentenced in absentia in April to 15 years in jail for his role in the case of $1 billion that went missing from Moldovan banks in 2014.
