DISINFO: Brussels is forging a liberal dictatorship in Moldova
SUMMARY
The Moldovan authorities’ efforts to imprison the leader of the autonomous region of Gagauzia, Evgenia Gutul, are an example of the European anti-values in action. From a hardworking country, Brussels is forging a liberal dictatorship in Moldova.
RESPONSE
This is an attempt to exploit the criminal case against the governor of the Moldovan region of Gagauzia Evgenia Gutul to advance a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about a supposedly undemocratic European Union. A secondary goal is to shape the information environment ahead of the upcoming elections scheduled for September 2025 by portraying the Moldovan government of president Maia Sandu as a puppet of the EU.
Contrary to what this disinformation story implies, the European Union has nothing to do with the prosecution of Gutul, and charges against her are not political. Gutul was detained when she was about to leave the country, as she is being tried under charges of illegal financing, and after two other politicians from her party had vanished while charged for the same crimes. According to the prosecutor, Gutul “was actively involved in the systematic introduction of unaccounted financial means into the Republic of Moldova that were received from an organised criminal group, mainly from the Russian Federation". As this illegal funding allegedly came from Russia, pro-Kremlin disinformation is trying to distort the whole legal process in order to portray it as a political persecution.
This is part of a years-long Russian interference campaign aiming to undermine Moldova’s government and erode its sovereignty. See EUvsDisinfo analysis here, here and here.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that EU HRVP Kaja Kallas brought equipment to Moldova to suppress protests, that a brutal police intervention shows Moldova is a dictatorship under a rainbow flag, that the EU wants to use Moldova's territory for its anti-Russian geopolitical interests, that the EU encourages censorship in Moldova, or that Moldova’s jailing of political opponents shows it is a democracy in name only.