Plahotniuc May Try to Seek Asylum in Moscow? – Opinions

Former leader of the Democratic Party of Moldova and de facto ex-governor of the country, fugitive oligarch Vlad Plahotniuc may seek refuge in Moscow, where another fugitive politician and oligarch from Moldova, Ilan Sor, has moved from Israel this year, according to unofficial reports. The topic was discussed on June 13 in the Cutia Neagra programme on TV8. As PAS MP Adrian Cheptonar noted, despite all the controversies and criminal cases, Moscow could accept him and forget past claims, hoping to use his influence and connections against Moldova and the country’s current authorities. “The Russian Federation right now needs any leverage to achieve the desired result in Moldova. And Plahotniuc was once rather successful in retaining ‘absolute power’. Plahotniuc eventually fell out with the free world, which would not put up with his authoritarianism. Right now, as far as we know, he is hiding in Northern Cyprus. The U.S. is probably putting pressure on Turkey to get him out of there because of Turkey’s influence on Northern Cyprus. And he needs to find a new place where he will be safe. And while there are not many safe harbors, it is rather logical that he will go to Russian Federation, which will certainly never extradite him. (...). I think Plahotniuc has something to offer and Russia will close its eyes and forget everything that happened in the past between them and Plaha,” said Cheptonar. Another guest on the programme, PSRM MP Grigore Novac, disagreed with him. He doubts that Plahotniuc could really be accepted in Russia, given his past, harsh statements against Russia. He also suggested that they could set a trap for Plahotniuc by promising him certain conditions to lure him into the country. “I don't know whether they will accept him. His statements against the Russian Federation were quite harsh. I am not their lawyer to know the details, but the point is that if we are talking about these two (Sor and Plahotniuc - note), Sor did not make poisonous statements against Russia, which is not the case with Plahotniuc. May it not be a trap for him,” Novac said.