The Kremlin is recruiting and infiltrating individuals into certain circles in the Republic of Moldova, with the aim of turning them into loyal political actors. The statement belongs to the head of the Information and Security Service (SIS) in Chisinau, Alexandru Musteață.
In an interview given to Ziarul de Gardă, the official explained that there are two aspects of Russian influence on the political field in Moldova. In the first case, there is classic recruitment, and in the second – illegal financing of certain formations and individuals.
“We can talk about two aspects. One is a classic recruitment activity, when the special services of the Russian Federation identify, recruit, and then what we call cultivate or plant the person in certain environments and prepare them, provide them with the necessary resources, so that they become a political actor with a certain influence. They provide them with everything that means the space or informational resource controlled by the Russian Federation. And this actor, being directly guided by the special services of the Russian Federation, moves up the hierarchical ladder in Moldovan politics. “
The second part is what we call Russian soft power, when certain political actors, being financed, illegally of course, by the Russian Federation, act in the interests of the Russian Federation, adopting certain decisions that are detrimental to our security, but, certainly, in the interest of the enemy country“, Musteață reported.
According to the official, SIS is investigating such phenomena, and Russia has not resorted to such actions constantly and has never put them on hold. From Musteață’s words, such actions are not easy to investigate, but nevertheless, Security is making progress in this regard.