From Moscow, Shor says referendum on EU integration could be a step towards Moldova's union with Romania

The referendum regarding the Republic of Moldova’s accession to the European Union could be used by the pro-European government in Kishinev as basis for the republic’s union with Romania, stated on Tuesday night for the Russian public television channel Rossia-24 the former fugitive Moldavian deputy Ilan Shor.‘We know that the scenario says that, in case of a positive result in the referendum, the present pro-western regime will try to find a judicial form for the union with Romania,as this will essentially allow it to bypass all procedures and immediately become a member of the EU’ Shor said, quoted by the official Russian news agency TASS.After the collapse of the USSR, the Republic of Moldova declared its independence, but politicians in neighbouring Romania consider the territory as part of their country and promote the idea of unification, writes TASS. Bucharest supports the political parties in Chisinau that are pushing for unification policies, with the tacit consent of the Moldovan government, the source adds. At the same time, Moldova's parliamentary opposition is demanding that all organisations advocating the liquidation of the Moldovan state be declared illegal, according to the Russian news agency, which adds that according to public opinion polls, the idea of unification with Romania does not yet enjoy widespread support. In June 2022, at the EU summit, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine received the statute of candidate to EU accession and in November 2023, the European Commission recommended the start of accession negotiations with these countries. The authorities in Kishinev intend to organise a referednum for EU accession on 20 November, at the end of which it is proposed to add to the preamble of the Constitution a declaration on the irreversibility of Moldova’s European course.The statement by controversial pro-Russian oligarch Ilan Shor – sentenced in 2023 to 15 years in prison in the ‘Theft of a billion’ from the Moldovan banking system case – comes in the context where the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Moldova gave the green light to the organization of the constitutional referendum regarding the European integration of the Republic of Moldova to take place the same day as presidential elections, on 20th October 2024, says the press from across the Prut.The head of Moldova's Intelligence and Security Service (SIS), Alexandru Musteata, warned in March that Russia intends to use fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor to destabilise the situation in Moldova ahead of this year's presidential and next year's parliamentary elections. In these actions, Russia was to involve three categories of actors: overtly pro-Russian Federation political actors, overtly pro-statist political actors and political actors connected to organised criminal groups, the then head of SIS said, as quoted by NewsMaker. According to him, there were plans to generate more crises, including in Gagauzia and Transnistria, and to increase radical separatist tendencies in the southern part of the Republic of Moldova - the most important actor on which the Russian Federation is counting is Ilan Shor's group.outlawed, but some time later they created another body.   In 2023, Shor’s party was ‘Ours’ led by people from the entourage of the oligarch who was in Moscow at the time. Likewise, the party of the former pro-Russian president, Igor Dodon, the Party of the Socialists from the Republic of Moldova (PSRM) criticised the decision of the Constitutional Court through which there was green light to the organisation of the referendum regarding accession to the European Union and the revision of the Constitution in this sense. The socialists consider that, through the decision taken, the Constitutional Court had ‘exceeded its attributions repeatedly’ and ‘they ignored all arguments coming from the lawyers’ NewsMaker says." We insist on the inadmissibility of violating the Constitution with regard to the imposition of a generally binding ideology. PSRM considers inviolable the constitutional principles of independence, sovereignty and neutrality of the Republic of Moldova, and their total or partial transfer to supranational bodies - unacceptable", says PSRM in a statement.   According to the Moldavian authorities, the purpose of the referendum and the amendment of the Constitution is represented by the ascertion of the European integration aspirations, setting of the direction towards the space of European values, as well as the choosing the European integration as strategic objective for the Republic of Moldova. ‘We need unity, we need the involvement of every party, civic organization, citizen, so that together we guarantee peace and welfare for the Moldavians. United for the European Moldavia we will succeed in meeting our joint objective – the Moldavians to live in peace, with dignity and freedom in a strong European country’ said president Maia Sandu about the decision of the Constitutional Court in a post on Facebook.