Republic of Moldova - July 2023

Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean replaced the ministers of Interior, Education, and Development on 14 July. The ministers had resigned following a deadly gun attack at Chisinau Airport on 30 June, where a Tajik citizen killed two officers after being denied entry to Moldova. The resignation of Interior Minister, Ana Revenco, had been demanded by parliamentary opposition. However, the relation of the portfolios of ministers of Science and Education, and Infrastructure and Regional Development was not made publicly clear by the government.

Sources: Balkan Insight, Reuters Radio Europa Libera Moldova

Following a decision by the Constitutional Court to dissolve the opposition Shor Party on 19 June, parliament passed a law barring its leaders from standing in elections for five years. The law also prohibits the repurposing of “attributes” of the Shor Party for use by other parties or political formations – a reference to founder Ilan Shor’s attempt to form a coalition called “Chance, Obligations, Achievements”, abbreviated as “SH.O.R.” in Romanian. Shor, despite living in Israel since 2019 to avoid serving a sentence for fraud and money laundering, was a member of parliament until 27 April 2023, and his party placed third in the 2021 parliamentary elections. The Moldovan government and Ukrainian, European, and American intelligence officials have accused Shor and his party of receiving direct financial and logistical support from Russian security services to destabilize Moldova, and he is subject to sanctions by both the EU and US.

Sources: Radio Free Europe, Washington Post, Politico, Radio Europa Libera Moldova