Russia uses Moldova as testing ground for new influence technologies – Moldovan Foreign minister

Moldovan Foreign Minister Mihail Popșoi has said that Russia is using his country to test its new influence and interference technologies, intending to apply them elsewhere afterwards.

Answering the question of why Moldova has become a Russian target in hybrid warfare, Popșoi said there are several explanations.

"One explanation may be its geographical location near Ukraine, while another is Russian interests and the willingness of various parties in Moldova to betray national interests and citizens to promote a foreign agenda," Popșoi said in an interview with 24-hour Romanian TV news channel Digi24.

He added that Moldova is also susceptible to hybrid threats, given its vulnerability in combating disinformation and in cyberspace.

"Our institutions still remain vulnerable overall, including in terms of corruption. Our citizens have long been targeted by propaganda, living in a hostile propaganda environment. 

All these factors make us vulnerable, and Russia is using the Republic of Moldova as a breeding ground, as a Petri dish [laboratory glassware – ed.], to test its new influence and interference technologies. Then,  if they prove effective, to use them elsewhere," Popșoi noted.

He called on Moldova's partners to help provide resistance so that these hybrid warfare tactics are not exported to other countries.

Recently, UK intelligence warned that Russia plans to conduct a wave of hybrid attacks in Moldova ahead of the presidential elections and the referendum on EU membership in the fall of this year. 

Prior to that, Alexandru Musteata, director of the Moldovan Intelligence and Security Service, stated that Russia would attempt to interfere in the presidential and parliamentary elections and provoke social conflicts in Gagauzia and Transnistria to undermine Moldova's accession to the EU.