Tiny Moldova is a poor, landlocked country bordering war-torn Ukraine but is neither a member of the European Union nor NATO. Another week of bombing threats continued for him.
Hundreds of people line up outside an international airport serving the Moldovan capital Chisinauon an overcast day this week as bomb-sniffing dogs search the area. made. It's now a common scene in Europe's poorest country fighting what observers believe is an attempt to destabilize a former Soviet republic amid Russia's war in Ukraine.
Since the beginning of July, Moldova has received nearly 60 bomb threats, with more than 15 reported so far this week. From the city hall of the capital to the airport, the Supreme Court, shopping malls and hospitals.
Although no one has yet been indicted for the bomb threats, most of them came by email and were all found to be false, but officials said they tracked the addresses of the computers. te Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.
"This is part of the ongoing disinformation war against Moldova," said Valeriu Pasa, an analyst at Chisinau think tank Watchdog.md. “It could be part of Russia's efforts to destabilize Moldova. They use different methods to do so.”
Moldova, of 2.6 million people, has faced many crises since it launched its invasion of Ukraine. It hosts more Ukrainian refugees than any other country. Tensions are high in Russia-backed segregated areas of the country. We are dealing with a serious energy crisis. Like much of Europe, it is battling skyrocketing inflation.
The frequent threats of bombs are only adding pressure to the country's already overreaching authorities.
"Blocking a lot of resources, including police, investigators and technical services. This is a kind of bullying or harassment of the Moldovan state system and public services," Pasa said. .
Maxim Motinga, a prosecutor for Moldova's organized crime agency, told his Associated Press that since the bomb threats began, "virtually every day there are criminal cases."
"All criminal investigations are now underway," he said, adding that public assistance from Russia and Ukraine would be sought if "specific pathways leading to their respective countries were established." He added that there are.
"I hope we get some answers from these countries," he said.
Veaceslav Belbas, a 43-year-old Moldovan businessman who returned to Chisinau from Turkey on Monday, was threatened with a bomb as the plane circled the capital's airport for 30 minutes. I was scared. He then made a U-turn and returned to Turkey.
"We prayed a lot and finally landed," he said. "For me, it was such a big shock when I told my wife that this was my last flight."
A series of real explosions occurred in the Russian-backed Transnistrian separatist region. After that, Moldovan tensions soared in his April. There, Russia bases about 1,500 troops in so-called frozen conflict zones. Concerns arose that non-NATO and militarily neutral Moldova could be dragged into Russia's war trajectory. At least one Russian official has claimed to have seized enough land in southern Ukraine to link Russian-controlled territories from the mainland to Transnistria.
Observers say the blast came after Moldova, which has historically close ties to Moscow, showed growing Western orientation and applied for her EU membership shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine. pointed out that He was given EU candidate status in late June, just before the bomb threats began.
Moldova has been plagued by organized crime and civil servant corruption since her independence in 1991. Local oligarchs' attempts to seize power after the 2019 elections sparked mass protests before fleeing the country. In 2014, several politicians and oligarchs claimed they had something to do with the fraud that made his $1 billion disappear from a local bank. In that case, no one has yet been convicted.
Galina Gheorghes was returning to the UK from Moldova last month after attending a family reunion of hers when her flight was canceled due to a bomb threat. She is upset that no one has been caught yet, she says.
"What is happening now is very bad. Unfortunately, the public is suffering," said Gheorghes, 35.
In what appears to be an endless stream of destructive and costly intimidation, the Ministry of Interior of Moldova has increased penalties for those convicted of false alarms, increasing fines and lengthening prison sentences. He said he wanted to impose a sentence.
Chisinau airport has been hit by dozens of bomb threats since her July, and security has been tightened in response. Radu Zanoaga, head of border police at the airport, said a specialized unit was set up to save security officials the hassle of moving out of the city center whenever there was a bomb threat.
"At the moment, we are cooperating with other (national) agencies and agencies operating within the airport to address this situation," he said. "Bomb alarms have happened before, but not as often or as frequently as now."
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Stephen McGrath reported from Sighisoara, Romania.
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