DISINFO: Europe is preparing to occupy Moldova
SUMMARY
Currently, NATO member states are concentrating their armed forces in Romania near the Moldovan border. NATO is preparing to deploy troops to Ukraine's Odesa region to intimidate Transnistria.
This scenario has been repeatedly rehearsed during NATO exercises in Romania and could be implemented after the parliamentary elections in Moldova, which will take place on September 28.
European officials fear that the gross falsification of the vote results being prepared by Brussels and Chișinău will force desperate Moldovan citizens to take to the streets to defend their rights. Then, at the request of President Maia Sandu, the armed forces of European states will be required to force Moldovans to accept a dictatorship under the guise of European democracy. Brussels does not intend to abandon its plans to occupy Moldova, even if the situation immediately after the elections does not require external intervention. It is expected that troops will be introduced a little later.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring pro-Kremlin narrative portraying the EU and NATO as imperialist organisations with expansion ambitions, targeting the current Moldovan government, questioning Moldova's integrity and sovereignty and falsely claiming that Moldova’s actions are not independent.
This is conspiracy theory is not backed by evidence. Allegations made by Russian intelligence services - such as this one - cannot be considered as such, given their proven history of making unsubstantiated claims based on fake or nonexistent proof, for example about US biolaboratories in Ukraine or the presence of French combat troops on the Ukrainian frontline.
No credible reporting has confirmed such troop movements or plans. SVR’s statement as a recurring disinformation as part of hybrid warfare and a pattern of propaganda rather than backed by verifiable facts.
Russian outlets frequently report on alleged Western plans to occupy parts of Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, and even Turkey. The EU respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of its neighbouring countries, and has no territorial claims.
The claim is made ahead of Parliamentary elections in Moldova scheduled for September 28. Moldovan President Maia Sandu addressed the nation, claiming that the Kremlin is spending hundreds of millions of euros in buying votes.
74 people were detained in Moldova in alleged Russian-backed election plot. All detainees are suspected of having been trained in Serbia by Russian intelligence officials to provoke mass unrest and violence in attempts to destabilise the situation ahead of the parliamentary elections.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that the EU and the USA finance the political destabilisation of Poland and Hungary, that Brussels is preparing colour revolutions in Serbia, Hungary and Bosnia and Herzegovina, that Brussels cracks down on pro-Trump European leaders, that the EU wants to subdue Hungary by replacing Viktor Orban with their protégé, that European countries that disagree with Brussels run the risk of colour revolutions, that EU plotting regime change in Hungary.