Alexandru Musteața, Director of the Security and Intelligence Service, held a press conference on the assessment of the Russian Federation's involvement in electoral processes of the Republic of Moldova in 2024-2025.
During the event, he presented information held by the institution, indicating an unprecedented level of intensity in the Russian Federation’s actions aimed at anchoring the Republic of Moldova in its sphere of influence.
The Director highlighted the objectives, actors, tools and tactics used in hybrid attacks on democratic processes, aimed to compromise the European integration vector, interfere in the presidential elections and referendum, and infiltrate political parties in the Moldovan Parliament that are under the influence of the Russian Federation.
To achieve their objectives, hostile forces rely on a strategy that includes three main elements:
- Supporting political actors under direct or indirect control of the Russian Federation;
- Creating several crises across several areas of social and political life;
- Conducting large-scale information attacks to amplify the psychological impact of these crises.
Hybrid influences from the Russian Federation are based on interference in the internal affairs of the Republic of Moldova, involving political actors, associative structures/pro-Russian groups of influence, analytics companies connected to the Russian factor, and separate groups of citizens clandestinely financed by external subversive centers.
The main tools of influence remain: the alteration of content in the information space, implicitly through propaganda channels (such as Telegram and TikTok), as well as protests used to erode trust in the current government. Additionally, the creation of a regional power pole in the UTAG (Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia), loyal to the Russian factor, is being used to blackmail the country's central authorities. Another tool that external subversive centres employ is the intention to provoke a political crisis by identifying and corrupting a number of public figures, representatives of pro-European parties, which would lead to the disappointment of citizens in the current political class.
The SIS Director also reiterated the call for citizens to be vigilant, to seek information from official sources and not to be manipulated by the aggressive actions of the Russian Federation and its controlled influential actors. "I emphasize that the plans to destabilize the Republic of Moldova in 2023 have failed. The institutions, including the SIS, have thwarted attempts to undermine democratic processes. We will continue to inform the public about foreign threats to the Republic of Moldova and to combat any attempts to hinder the development of our country and the European vector," said Alexandru Musteața.
The comprehensive report on the elements outlined at the conference has been sent to the legal beneficiaries. The institution continues to analyse security risks and acts to prevent potential crises, hinder any attempts of external interference in the internal affairs of our country, and actively cooperate with national institutions to maintain constitutional order.
