The Parliament of Moldova has voted to shut down the Russian cultural centre
One day after Russia’s ambassador was called in over drone intrusions that Moldova deemed intolerable, the Moldovan Parliament voted Thursday to close a Russian cultural center in a fresh attempt to curtail Moscow’s influence in the nation.
Of the 101 members of the legislature, 57 supported the proposal. In the chamber, the ruling Party of Action and Solidarity, led by pro-European President Maia Sandu, holds a majority.
Moldova’s security could be threatened by narratives propagated by the Russian Centre for Science and Culture in Chisinau, according to the government.
Due to legal issues, the center will not close until July 2026. For months, people have been debating whether to close it.
Sandu, who was first elected in 2020, has advocated for Moldova to achieve EU membership by the end of the decade. She has accused Moscow of attempting to destabilize and sway public opinion in the former Soviet state that is situated between Ukraine and Romania, an EU member, and she condemns Russia’s war in Ukraine.
According to Culture Minister Cristian Jordan, the government “has not proposed a single joint project or event” since 2021, making it impossible to determine the nature of the center’s operations.
The government could not provide a single instance of illegal activity, according to opposition parties that support Russia.
After drones entered Moldovan airspace earlier this year, the country’s foreign ministry initially demanded that the center be shut down.
Six Russian drones were involved in the most recent incident, which the ministry condemned as a “serious violation of Moldova’s sovereignty and a direct threat to national and regional sovereignty” on Wednesday.
Russian ambassador Oleg Ozerov said he doubted that one of the drones, which were displayed outside the foreign ministry, was connected to a real intrusion and implied that the incident was intended to sour relations between Moscow and Chisinau, which were already strained.
Russia accuses Moldova of engaging in anti-Moscow “Russophobic” activities. Diplomats have been expelled from each nation; the most recent example occurred in April.
