The Kremlin on Wednesday condemned the arrest of the leader of Moldovas semi-autonomous Gagauz area, calling it a political move aimed at suppressing opposition to the countrys pro-EU president.Moldovan police detained Gagauz leader Evghenia Gutul at Chisinau International Airport late Tuesday, placing her in custody for 72 hours.
A Moldovan court last year opened a trial against Gutul on charges of funneling Russian funds to the now-banned pro-Russian Shor Party.Gutul is affiliated with the Shor Party, whose banished leader, Ilan Shor, supposedly got Russian funding including from oligarch Roman Abramovich to orchestrate destabilization efforts in Moldova.
Last spring, Gutul took a trip to Russia to seek support from President Vladimir Putin, declaring Moldovas authorities were attempting to undermine her.The present Moldovan authorities are certainly exerting blatant pressure on popular and active politicians who could equal [Moldovan President] Maia Sandu, Kremlin representative Dmitry Peskov informed reporters.We highly condemn such actions and think Chisinau ought to desert these methods and permit all political forces in the country to run easily, he said.Russias Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, linked Gutuls arrest to Moldovas upcoming parliamentary elections in July.As the parliamentary elections method, opponents of the current authorities increasingly report approximate actions by police, stating the country has developed into an authorities state, Zakharova said.She implicated Moldova of reducing pro-Russian voices through criminal cases against opposition figures, censorship of Russian-language media and immense pressure on political leaders and reporters preferring closer ties with Moscow.Gutuls detention follows the inexplicable disappearance last week of two pro-Russian lawmakers one sentenced to prison and the other waiting for a verdict on corruption charges similar to those against Gutul.Gagauzia, a mainly Russian-speaking, ethnic Turkic area in southern Moldova, has a population of 140,000.
After being incorporated into the Moldavian SSR, it underwent significant Russification, strengthening its cultural and linguistic ties to Russia.Following Moldovas independence in 1991, Gagauzia looked for and was given autonomy in 1994.
Since then, regional leaders have actually regularly encountered Moldovas central government over cultural policies, financial advancement and foreign affairs.Gutuls June 2023 election triumph remains unvalidated by Moldovas Central Election Commission due to alleged campaign finance violations and foreign disturbance.
She has actually been barred from Cabinet meetings and was just recently sanctioned by the United States.