Moldova

Moldova kicks out two foreigners over plan for ‘violent’ uprising, spy agency says

Chișinău faces rising pressure from Moscow, as it bids to join the EU.

BY NICOLAS CAMUT

Moldova has expelled two foreigners suspected of taking part in subversive activities, the Moldovan intelligence services said Monday amid rising fears that Russia could be plotting a coup.

The two individuals “were trained in data and information gathering activities for the implementation of a plan to destabilize the internal situation in the country” and cause “a violent change to the constitutional order,” Moldova’s Security and Intelligence Service said in a statement.

The two people, whose country of origin was not disclosed, posed as tourists to enter the country. They have both been expelled, and are banned from entering Moldova for 10 years.

Moldova, which borders Ukraine, has been under rising pressure from Moscow since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion last February.

Earlier this month, Moldova’s pro-EU president, Maia Sandu, accused Russia of plotting to overthrow the government. Russian authorities denied the allegation.

The Moldovan government has long accused Russia — which bases soldiers in the breakaway region of Transnistria in the east — of stirring unrest in the country, including protests in the capital Chișinău, as punishment for its pro-European path.

Moldova was granted candidate status to the European Union last June, together with Ukraine.