Live Ukraine | Ukraine: Russian plot to assassinate Zelensky foiled

Pro-European Moldovan President Maia Sandu spoke out on Tuesday against a protest that would now take place on Thursday, May 9. Pro-Russian parties in Moldova plan that day to celebrate the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany, a hugely popular element of the Kremlin’s patriotic teachings.

According to Sandu, the demonstrations were partly organized by Russia. “There is nothing wrong with protesting. Moldova is a democratic country and we do what is necessary to guarantee the freedom of expression of its citizens,” she said at a press conference during a visit to the Norwegian capital Oslo. “It is something different when these events are paid for from outside the country, and when people take to the streets not with their own agenda, but with someone else’s on the streets. Russia has tried to destabilize the country before. In the past it has tried to fund protesters.”

Also on May 9, Sandu’s supporters plan to celebrate ‘Europe Day’. Sandu would like her country to join the European Union. On October 20, presidential elections will take place in the former Soviet republic, now a country wedged between Romania and Ukraine, with more than 2.5 million inhabitants.

Pro-Russian supporters recently announced a coalition from Russia under the supervision of unofficial opposition leader Ilan Shor, an oligarch who fled to Israel and was convicted of fraud. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it has organized protests against the pro-European government in Moldova several times.