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Reuters
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
EU council sanctions individuals, entities responsible for destabilising Moldova
BRUSSELS, July 15 (Reuters) - The European Council said in a statement on Tuesday that it had imposed sanctions on seven individuals and three entities "responsible for actions aimed at destabilising" Moldova, whose leaders are bidding to join the EU by 2030. A statement by the Council said those targeted were close associates of Ilan Shor, a fugitive business magnate sentenced in absentia to 15 years in prison in connection with the 2014 disappearance of $1 billion from the Moldovan banking system. Shor lives in Russia, where he oversees the activities of the pro-Russian "Victory" bloc, accused by Moldovan authorities of illegally financing electoral activities in Moldova, which lies between Ukraine and Romania. The bloc was barred by the courts from participating in last year's Moldovan presidential election and referendum on Moldova's drive to join the European Union. Its leaders are barred from entering the EU and are subject to an asset freeze under the directive. The EU statement said some of the people listed "have been actively involved in vote buying schemes, in the context of the presidential elections and of the constitutional referendum on EU accession of 2024, and bribery to corrupt several politicians". Victoria Furtuna, leader of the Moldova Mare party and subject to the order, vowed to mount a legal challenge, saying groups in Brussels were "shamelessly and openly ...choosing on their own who is going to run our sovereign state". Two others on the list are pro-Russian lawmakers who have disappeared after being convicted on corruption charges. Pro-European President Maia Sandu, who has accused the Kremlin of trying to subvert her country, won re-election last year by a slim margin and a referendum endorsing her EU membership campaign also passed only narrowly. Moldovan police last year accused Shor of funnelling large sums illegally to voters ahead of the polls and Sandu said the vote-buying scheme had influenced the outcome of the votes. A poll published on Tuesday credited Sandu's Party of Action and Solidarity with 27.4% of voting intentions ahead of a September parliamentary election, compared to 10.4% for the pro-Russian opposition Socialists and 6.2% for the Victory bloc.
Russia Today
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
EU blacklists opposition figures in candidate country
The European Council has imposed sanctions on seven individuals and three entities in Moldova linked to exiled opposition leader Ilan Shor. The new designations, announced on Tuesday, target the Israeli-born businessman's 'close associates,' who have allegedly attempted to destabilize the EU candidate country. Shor, founder of the banned Euroskeptic SOR party and current leader of the Victory opposition bloc, fled Moldova in 2019 amid a massive bank fraud scandal. He was later stripped of his citizenship there and sentenced in absentia to a lengthy prison term. He has maintained his innocence, insisting the charges are politically motivated. The EU sanctioned him in 2023, and he was granted Russian citizenship the following year. The European Council has also blacklisted the Victory bloc itself, accusing it of spreading false information and buying votes. Two additional entities have been sanctioned over alleged election interference. Those listed are subject to asset freezes and travel bans, and the sanctions prohibit any funds or economic resources from being made available to them. With the latest designations, such EU measures now apply to 23 individuals and five entities in Moldova. In June, Chisinau witnessed violent clashes between riot police and Orthodox Christian protesters at an anti-LGBTQ rally. While President Maia Sandu's administration is pushing for closer ties with the EU, conservative and religious groups have voiced growing resistance to what they view as the foreign-backed imposition of liberal social norms. Moldova, a former Soviet republic, has accelerated its EU and NATO integration efforts since Sandu's election in 2020. However, her policies have increasingly come under fire at home, particularly over economic stagnation and the suppression of dissent. Sandu has defended the crackdowns as necessary to combat alleged Russian influence, labeling opposition parties and media outlets as criminal actors. Moscow, for its part, has dismissed all accusations of election interference as baseless and politically motivated.
