Moldova’s Pro-Western Government Collapses as Fallout From Ukraine War Worsens
Moldova’s pro-Western government resigned amid the deteriorating economic impact from the war in neighboring Ukraine, a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Russia was trying to destabilize the country.
www.wsj.com
Moldova’s pro-Western government resigned amid the worsening economic fallout from the war in neighboring Ukraine, a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Russia was trying to destabilize the country.
Announcing her decision Friday, Moldovan Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita told a news briefing in the capital Chisinau that no one could have predicted the scale of the challenges her government has faced since the Russian invasion began nearly a year ago.
Inflation has soared in the former Soviet republic, peaking at 30% in December after Moscow’s decision to throttle natural-gas supplies, and prompting a wave of street protests. At times Moldova has suffered power cuts after Russian attacks on the electrical grid in Ukraine, while an influx of refugees has strained public services.
Security risks are growing, too. On Friday, the Moldovan and Romanian defense ministries said Russia had launched a cruise missile from a warship in the Black Sea, steering it through Moldovan airspace en route to a target in Ukraine, adding to fears that the war could spill over Ukraine’s borders.
President Maia Sandu, another leading pro-West politician, nominated her security adviser and former interior minister, Dorin Recean, to be prime minister, in what appeared to be an attempt to ensure some continuity in policy.
The day before, Mr. Zelensky, the Ukrainian leader, told a summit of European Union leaders in Brussels that Kyiv had intercepted and passed on Russian intelligence plans to undermine Moldova’s democracy and promote pro-Russian forces there.
Relations between Moldova and Russia have steadily worsened after successive Moldovan governments have tried to orient the country and its 2.5-million population more closely to Europe. Some pro-Western politicians have raised questions about Russia’s long-term intentions toward Moldova and in the breakaway region of Transnistria, the thin sliver of land along its border with Ukraine that is run by a pro-Russian administration and where Russian troops are already based.
Since coming to power with her Party of Action and Solidarity in August 2021, Ms. Gavrilita, backed by Ms. Sandu, tried to advance the country’s attempts to join the EU, which last year granted it candidate status alongside Ukraine.
“In spite of unprecedented challenges, the country was governed responsibly, with a lot of attention and dedicated work. We have stability, peace and development—where others wanted war and bankruptcy,” Ms. Sandu posted on Facebook.
