The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Moldova, Mihai Popshoi, believes that Russia is using his country to test its new technologies of influence and interference, to then apply them elsewhere.
The minister told about this in an interview with Digi24, “European Truth” writes.
When asked why Moldova became a target of Russia in the hybrid war, Popshoi said there are several such explanations.
“One of the explanations can be the geographical location near Ukraine, another – the interests of the Russian Federation and the readiness of various actors in Moldova to betray national interests and citizens for the sake of promoting a foreign agenda,” said the head of the Foreign Ministry.
He added that, on the other hand, there is also Moldova’s susceptibility to a hybrid threat, given its vulnerability in countering disinformation and cyberspace.
“Our institutions remain generally vulnerable, including from the point of view of corruption. Our citizens have been the prey of propaganda for a very long time, living in a hostile propaganda environment.
All these factors make us vulnerable, and the Russian Federation uses the Republic of Moldova as a nursery, as a Petri dish (dish for experiments in biology. – Ed.) to test its new technologies of influence and intervention, and then, if they prove effective, to use them in other places,” said Popshoi.
He called on Moldova’s partners to help fight back so that these hybrid warfare tactics are not exported to other countries.
British intelligence recently warned that Russia plans to launch a wave of hybrid attacks in Moldova ahead of the presidential election and EU referendum this fall.
Before that, the head of the Information and Security Service of Moldova, Alexander Mustiatse, said that Russia will try to interfere in the presidential and parliamentary elections and provoke social conflicts in Gagauzia and Transnistria to compromise Moldova’s accession to the EU.
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