Quick Hit: Security Updates and Forming a New Government
It's a busy week in Moldova with multiple security scares and rumors flying about the composition of the new government
Tense Security Situation in Moldova
Following President Sandu’s press conference Monday where she confirmed Ukrainian intelligence reports that the Russian Federation was planning to upend the constitutional order in Moldova in a coup, multiple news stories broke regarding the evolving security situation in Moldova.
Firstly, PAS MP Adrian Keptonar spoke to the press saying:
“This week in Chisinau a football match between teams from Serbia and Moldova is to take place. Initially, it was planned that fans of the Serbian team would also come to our country. Thanks to the efforts of the SIS, made long before the information provided by Zelensky, the Serbian national team will play in front of empty stands, because it was planned to bring saboteurs, ”
In this quote, the MP was referring to a planned match on February 16th between FC Sheriff Tiraspol and Serbian FC Partizan. Shortly after this announcement reports emerged that Serbian fans were told that they were not permitted to travel to Moldova for the match. This included some who had already landed at the airport but were not permitted to enter the country and were returned on the next available flight. The Football Federation of Moldova instructed Sheriff Tiraspol to hold the match in front of empty stands. All ticket holders will be reimbursed.
These actions led the Serbian Government to deny that its citizens were going to participate in any coup in Moldova and demand explanations from the Moldovan Government. This was shortly followed by a similar rebuke from the Montenegrin Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic who said that he had no information about their citizens being involved in any plots to destabilize Moldova. He said quote:
“Somehow it sounded harsh to me when I read it. Because it seems that Montenegro is involved in the problems that exist in Moldova. We have our own problems,”
Meanwhile, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that the US Government does not have any independent confirmation about the threat to Moldova but called the information presented by President Sandu “deeply disturbing.” He said:
“This, of course, does not go beyond the behavior of Russia, and we strongly support the government and people of Moldova,”
The Chairmen of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee also released a statement:
Meanwhile, Speaker of Parliament Grosu called out the opposition saying they are a 5th column working for the Kremlin. He said:
“Both are in the fifth column, and the general mayor of the capital, and former President Dodon, and the fugitive from Israel Shor are in the fifth column of the Russian Federation. They obediently repeat what they are told from the Kremlin. Everyone receives instructions.
So, all these people are none other than the fifth column of the Russian Federation, agents of the Russian Federation, and all citizens should know who these people work for,"
Meanwhile, Marina Tauber of the Shor Party continues to plan mass protests this Sunday. Kremlin spokesman and opposition leaders deny participation in any “coup” and claim that the Moldovan authorities are using lies to change the country into a police state.
Moldova’s Airspace Closed due to… drones? balloons?
At the same time the news was breaking about the Serbian football “fans” / “provocateurs,” confusing information started to appear from Air Moldova and the airport authorities. First, Air Moldova canceled 20 scheduled flights stretching from now through late march without any explanation.
Shortly after, Air Moldova announced to passengers waiting for flights the following:
“Dear passengers, now the airspace of the Republic of Moldova is closed, we are waiting for the resumption of flights. Today's flight schedule will undergo changes,”
Initially government and civil aviation authorities did not comment on this information but flights were delayed or re-routed including one flight from Sharm el Sheikh Egypt to Chisinau which had to land in Iasi Romania.
Still without official statements, news outlet ZdG reported that sources told them that officials in the Romanian government had detected an object looking like a drone belonging to "another state"that flew into Moldovan airspace.
Later in the day, the Civil Aeronautics Authority clarified saying:
Around 12:30 p.m., the Ministry of Defense received information that an unidentified small object similar to a weather balloon was detected in the airspace of the Republic of Moldova in the region of the city of Soroca [town in the far north in Moldova]. Considering the weather conditions and the impossibility of monitoring and identifying the object as well as its flight path, in order to ensure the safety and security of citizens, within the Interdepartmental Commission for Airspace Management, at 13:24 the decision was taken to temporarily close air space. After verifying the information and ensuring the absence of any danger to the safety of citizens, at the proposal of the Ministry of Defense, at 14:46 the airspace was reopened.
At nearly the same time, the Romanian Air Force detected another object at a height of 11,000 m (36,000 ft), South East of Romania that they also thought might be a small balloon. They scrambled MiG-21s of the Romanian Air force / NATO Air Police mission to investigate but wound up finding nothing either on radar or visually at the detection site.
MiG 21 Lancer - photo example from ZdG
So What is Going On?
It seems clear that Moldova is taking the threat of Russia infiltrating armed insurgents from Serbia, Montenegro, Chechnya, Belarus and Russia very seriously. Officials claim that SIS had strong evidence of provocateurs among the football fans, but if so why not arrest them? Blocking all the fans created a diplomatic row with Serbia. It is possible that the intelligence wasn’t so specific, or that the actions were taken out of an abundance of caution rather than actionable intelligence.
What about the flying objects / drones / balloons?! This remains unclear. Closed airspace, re-routed flights and scrambled fighter jets all speak to officials taking the situation extremely seriously. That said, it is hard to know what is going on. The recent shoot-downs of “objects” by the US Air Force and Air National Guard over the United States and Canada has possibly sparked a “balloon fever” and heightened sense of readiness and caution around the world. Alternately, Ukraine and the Black Sea is an active war zone. It is entirely possible that drones or spy balloons blew off course or were intentionally sent into Moldovan and Romanian airspace. At this time we simply don’t know.
The New Government Takes Shape
Meanwhile, after the resignation of Prime Minister Gavrilita and her government last Friday (link to our Moldova Matters Quick Hit article on the resignation), Prime Minister Designate Dorin Recean has been working to form a new government. Rumors reported in the Moldovan press say that he will present his new Cabinet of Ministers to Parliament on Thursday for approval and instatement.
PAS MP Radu Marian stated that the new government will mostly retain former ministers. That said there will be some changes - so far we have a few rumors and confirmations of changes and shakeups. Here’s what we know (or think we know) right now:
Confirmed : Andrei Spinu will depart as Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development. Mr. Spinu has been appointed Secretary General of the Moldovan President's Office replacing Vyacheslav Negruta who is now presidential advisor on economics.
Unofficial but Strongly Sourced : Current Minister of Agriculture Vladimir Bolya gave an interview on TV8 stating that he will retain his position. He also said that Minister of Finance Dumitru Budianschi, and Minister of Justice Sergiu Litvinenko will both leave government. News outlet ZdG confirmed that Minister of Justice Sergiu Litvinenko will leave his post and retire from public life. Most discussion in the press and social networks say that there has been frustration about Justice reform moving too slowly.
Confirmed : There will be a new Ministry of Energy in the Recean government. This was planned by former Prime Minister Gavrilita and will be implemented in the new government.
Rumored : Viktor Parlikov, former head of National Energy Regulatory Agency (ANRE) (2010 - 2014) and current director of UNDP supported NGO Green City Lab Moldova, will become the new Minister of Energy.
If these rumors are true, and there are no as-yet-unreported shakeups, then we are waiting to discover who will be Moldova’s new Minister of Justice, and who will be the new Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development. Both are critical ministries to both crisis response and questions of reform so we’ll watch this space closely.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Designate Dorin Recean met with business leaders expressing that his priority is economic development. On Monday he met with the leaders of the major international business associations (AMCHAM, EBA, FIA and others), and on Tuesday he met with representatives of the Moldova Small Enterprise Alliance AIM and small businesses including those from the HoRECA sector.
Photo source facebook - you may note that this author was present for Small business consultations wearing his other hat as the President of the Moldova Small Enterprise Alliance AIM.
And so a busy week continues in Moldova. Security concerns are making headlines daily (or even hourly) but the business or forming a new government and setting priorities for key reforms and crisis mitigation moves forward. Stay tuned to Moldova Matters for more Quick Hits responding to developing news this week.
David,
I was in Moldova last year and wanted to meet you. Now I am planning to return within the next month since my son it there. He is not concerned but seems to be out of the news loop. If the air space is closed, that is a complication. I understand overland from Bucharest is difficult. Any thoughts?
Thanks David! I look forward to reading more about this. I'm guilty of interpreting such phrases in light of my research interests and assuming they are more dramatic than in reality.