ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

Skip to main content

Moldova expels 2 foreigners caught in 'destabilization' plot

Moldova's Prime Minister Dorin Recean takes the oath during the swearing-in ceremony in Chisinau, Moldova, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Aurel Obreja) Moldova's Prime Minister Dorin Recean takes the oath during the swearing-in ceremony in Chisinau, Moldova, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Aurel Obreja)
Share
CHISINAU, Moldova -

Moldova's intelligence agency said Monday that two foreign nationals who posed as tourists have been expelled from the country and banned from returning for 10 years after they were caught carrying out "subversive actions" to destabilize Moldova.

The Intelligence and Security Service, SIS, said in a statement that the pair were trained in data and information gathering "for the implementation of a plan to destabilize the internal situation in the country," to provoke what it described as "violent change" to Moldova's constitutional order.

The SIS did not state when the foreign nationals arrived in Moldova, which countries they were from, or for whom they were allegedly working.

The agency said the pair carried out subversive actions that included investigating "various locations near government offices and critical infrastructure," and that they were coordinated "from the shadows by a group of individuals affiliated with a conspiratorial network of overseas political technology and social engineering experts."

The SIS added that the foreign nationals were actively monitoring and documenting social and political processes in Moldova, including protests it said were "organized in the capital by certain political forces."

Last Sunday, several thousand anti-government protesters rallied in the capital, Chisinau, to demand the new government fully cover energy bills amid a cost-of-living crisis. They also demanded that pro-Western President Maia Sandu step down.

The protest was organized by a recently formed group called Movement for the People and supported by members of Moldova's Russia-friendly Shor Party, which holds six seats in the former Soviet republic's 101-seat legislature.

The SIS statement Monday also came after Sandu outlined on Feb. 13 what she claimed was an alleged plot by Moscow to overthrow the government in order to put the nation "at the disposal of Russia," and to derail it from its course to one day join the European Union.

"Through violent actions, masked under protests of the so-called opposition, the change of power in Chisinau would be forced," she said. "In carrying out the plan, the authors rely on several internal forces, but especially on criminal groups such as the Shor formation and all of its derivatives."

Sandu said that the purported Russian plot envisioned attacks on government buildings, hostage-takings and other violent actions by groups of saboteurs. Russia strongly rejected those claims.

In June, Moldova, a country of about 2.6 million people, was granted EU candidate status, the same day as Ukraine.

CTVNews.ca ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.

The search for a missing six-year-old boy in Shamattawa is continuing Friday as RCMP hope recent tips can help lead to a happy conclusion.

BREAKING

BREAKING

The New Brunswick RCMP is asking people to stay away from the Starkey Road area in Long Creek, N.B., as they search for an armed teenager.

An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.

Local Spotlight

They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.

Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.

The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.

It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.

A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.

David Krumholtz, known for roles like Bernard the Elf in The Santa Clause and physicist Isidor Rabi in Oppenheimer, has spent the latter part of his summer filming horror flick Altar in Winnipeg. He says Winnipeg is the most movie-savvy town he's ever been in.

Edmontonians can count themselves lucky to ever see one tiger salamander, let alone the thousands one local woman says recently descended on her childhood home.