Romanian gendarmes have instructed Moldovan carabinieri how to quell protests by the opposition if the latter tries to prevent the taking over of a piece of land for the future US embassy. This fake news hints at the Romanian gendarme narrative and resumes themes circulated in the campaign regarding the imminence of large-scale demonstrations.
NEWS: “Carabinieri from the Republic of Moldova and Romanian gendarmes have perfected the interaction of their joint forces with the aim of quelling border riots. 50 representatives of the carabinieri troops and approximately 30 gendarmes participated in the joint trainings”.
“Moldovan media outlets have assumed that, most likely, law enforcement officers have perfected their ability to suppress the opposition, which intends to protest the Constitutional Court's decision to sell the Republican Stadium to the US embassy”.
NARRATIVES: 1. The Romanian Gendarmerie is training law enforcement staff in the Republic of Moldova to retaliate by force in case of opposition protests. 2. The population would not accept the country being sold the West (and the USA), so massive demonstrations are imminent.
LOCAL CONTEXT/ETHOS: In 2018, the Chisinau Parliament decided to transfer “for a fee” the former Republican Stadium in downtown Chisinau, which had been in disrepair for over ten years, for the construction of a new US Embassy in the Republic of Moldova. The decision was criticized by the then Socialist opposition, which, in December 2020, voted together with the Shor Party to repeal the law. On July 29, however, the Constitutional Court annulled the law passed in 2020, leaving in effect Parliament's decision of 2018 to sell the approximately 5-hectare land to the US Embassy. The Court's decision was harshly criticized by the Socialists, who also organized a small protest in front of the institution.
It is worth mentioning that the Socialists, who lost power in the July 11 elections, have spoken several times about potential massive protests.
The “Romanian gendarme” narrative, according to which the Romanian authorities behaved inappropriately towards the Bessarabian population after the Union of 1918, was promoted during the Soviet period and it’s one of the current “scarecrows” used against a potential union, but also against a rapprochement between the Republic of Moldova and the EU.
The issue of imminent public protests was also widely circulated during the election campaign via channels affiliated with the Socialists and Communists, who tried to scare the population that a victory of the right in elections would trigger instability. Also, throughout the campaign, stories were promoted about the West taking over Moldova, seizing all the country's resources. The Republican Stadium, although long abandoned (and neglected before the abandonment proper) is seen by part of the population as an important landmark of Chisinau.
PURPOSE: To scare the population about the risk of Romanian gendarmes getting involved in suppressing potential protests in the Republic of Moldova. 2 To reactivate the “Romanian gendarme” narrative.
WHY THE NARRATIVE IS FALSE: The joint exercises conducted by the Moldovan carabinieri and the Romanian gendarmes are part of a project funded by the European Union, under the Joint Operational Program Romania – Republic of Moldova 2014 - 2020, through the European Neighborhood Instrument (E.N.I.). They had been scheduled long before the ruling of the Constitutional Court and couldn’t have anything to do with any protests against the said decision. “|The complex exercise was aimed at strengthening the operational and tactical capabilities of law enforcement for joint actions. The units deployed with the aim of ensuring and restoring public order were made up of carabinieri and gendarmes, both in terms of operations and in terms of conducting the operation”, according to the General Carabinier Inspectorate. The text also contains factual errors - the Constitutional Court did not rule that the land should be sold to the US Embassy. The Court's ruling just annulled a law passed in December last year, leaving in force a nearly three-year-old law passed by parliament
The “route” of this disinformation is also interesting: Initially, pravdorub.md wondered whether the carabinieri were perfecting their skills to quell opposition protests, for example against the sale of land to the US Embassy. Subsequently, Eurasia Daily, a Russian news site, presented this question as an “assumption of the media institutions in the Republic of Moldova”, and later the article in the Russian press was taken over by the mejdurecie.md portal in the Republic of Moldova.
GRAIN OF TRUTH: The Carabinieri of the Republic of Moldova and the Romanian Gendarmes carried out a joint exercise, after trainings organized part of the external assistance project “Intervention techniques and tactics standardization through joint preparation and training activities for the insurance of public order measures occurred during cross border public manifestations”.
THE NARRATIVE BENEFITS: The Party of Socialists, Moscow, by feeding anti-Romania phobias.
Check sources:
