Moldova's approach to the EU is due to the Russophobic policy of the current administration, according to a false narrative promoted by a pro-Russian political theorist / politician from Chișinău.
NEWS: Russophobia helped Sandu befriend the EU. If it hadn't been for the situation in Ukraine and if our authorities had shown respect for the Russian language, there wouldn't have been any talk of the European Union in our country. Sandu and her team, however, started with Russophobia and decided to align themselves with Ukraine. And all this for the sake of a slim chance of joining the EU”.
[...] `Moldovans will never allow the church to be banned. Today, 92% of Moldova's population is Christian Orthodox. Our nation is historically part of the Russian Orthodox Church. And when Sandu and PAS oppose it, they oppose the people of the country.
The authorities should not interfere with their policies in our religion, because the Moldovans’ response might be too harsh.
NARRATIVES: 1. The government in Chisinau is Russophobic. 2. The government in Chisinau intends to ban the Orthodox Church, subordinate to the Russian Patriarchate.
PURPOSE: To present the government in Chișinău as hostile to the Russian-speaking minorities in the Republic of Moldova, but also towards the Orthodox Church, which continues to enjoy the trust of a large part of the population.
WHY THE NARRATIVES ARE FALSE: The pro-European government in Chișinău condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine from its early days. In the context of the security developments caused by the war, the Republic of Moldova strengthened its relations with the West. In June 2022, it obtained, alongside with Ukraine, the European Union candidate status, which caused Moscow’s displeasure, expressed primarily through the spokeswoman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova. The Russian official criticized Chișinău’s every attempt at developing closer relations with Brussels, as well as the alleged Russophobia of the government in Chișinău.
Chișinău-Moscow relations have turned bitter in recent years, in the context in which the war had direct consequences on the Republic of Moldova – price hikes, particularly affecting energy resources imported from Russia (gas), the destruction of transport logistics, escalating security threats etc. Due to Russia’s missile attacks on the Ukrainian energy system, power outages have occurred frequently in the Republic of Moldova. Several Russian missiles overflew the country's airspace, and while missile parts crashed on its territory.
Russia was allegedly behind a plot to violently overthrow the pro-European government. The plan was disclosed by the authorities in Chișinău and Kyiv, but also by international officials. The wanted politician Ilan Shor, convicted in the large-scale bank fraud investigation of 2014, was also behind the plan. Shor officially moved to Moscow, after several years in Israel, and took over the leadership of a bloc of small purportedly pro-Russian and anti-EU parties, campaigning for the accession of the Republic of Moldova to the Eurasian Union, led by the Kremlin.
Moscow also made a series of allegations against the government in Chișinău, which Veridica dismantled. Russia accused Moldova of supposedly trying to get closer to NATO, of violating the country’s neutrality status, or of violating the rights of the Russian-speaking minority. The Kremlin ended up criticizing Chișinău also because the Parliament decided (drawing on a 2013 Constitutional Court ruling) to change the name of the official language from Moldovan to Russian.
Regarding the supposed ban on the Metropolitanate of Moldova, subordinated to the Russian Patriarchate, both the governing party, PAS, and president Maia Sandu denied such a scenario was ever taken under advisement. The claim about Moldova being part of the Russian Orthodox Church is an exaggeration. Historically, the churches of the Wallachia were linked with the Patriarchate of Constantinople. The subordination of the Moldovan church to the Russian Patriarchate occurred after the 1812 annexation of Bessarabia by the Russian Empire.
BACKGROUND: Accusations and narratives related to the alleged Russophobia of the government in Chișinău have multiplied in the context of the campaign for the presidential election, but also ahead of the referendum on the European integration of the Republic of Moldova, scheduled to take place on October 20. Russian propaganda openly urges people to boycott the referendum or vote against. Messages about the violation of the rights of ethnic minorities, but especially about attacks on the Church, are sensitive in the Republic of Moldova, a state with a conservative society and a region with a majority Russian-speaking population.
Talks on the Metropolitanate of Moldova have further intensified after the publication of journalistic investigations about the increasingly frequent visits paid to Moscow by certain priests and parishioners, which were allegedly funded by the Russian Patriarchate. In this context, a PAS deputy did not rule out the possibility that the Metropolitanate of Moldova might be banned, based on the example of Ukraine, although the ruling party immediately distanced itself from these statements.
Two Orthodox Churches are currently active in the Republic of Moldova - the Metropolitanate of Chișinău and All Moldova (Metropolitanate of Moldova), which is subordinated to the Russian Patriarchate and which was formed over the years, after the annexation of Bessarabia to the Russian Empire in 1812, and the Metropolitanate of Bessarabia, subordinated to the Romanian Orthodox Church, which obtained its official recognition in 2002, following a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights. Over the years, the two churches have each laid claim over the churches and church assets on the territory of the Republic of Moldova.
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