Popsoi: $107 Million in Cryptocurrency Found in Moldova to Finance Political Parties

This was stated by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Moldova Mihai Popsoi during a speech at the Hudson Institute in Washington. The minister stressed that this is only part of a large-scale intervention campaign that Moscow is waging against Moldova, using hybrid tactics: buying political influence, organizing protests, financing illegal structures and complex schemes involving cryptocurrencies, reports nordnews.md. According to Popsoi, the Moldovan authorities, in cooperation with the US, the EU and Romania, have strengthened the protection of critical infrastructure and the information space to prevent attempts to interfere in the electoral process: “We avoided a scenario in which the Kremlin could have attempted to disable the systems on election night in order to discredit the results,” the minister stated. The minister also noted that the frozen assets are just the tip of the iceberg. According to the authorities’ estimates, tens and hundreds of millions of lei were directed towards: financing pro-Russian political projects; paid protests; creating and supporting networks of influence. Popsoi emphasized that the scale of funding for destabilizing activities is comparable to Moldova’s public spending in key sectors. The free circulation of such funds could lead to serious political and economic destabilization. The minister noted that Moldova is not alone in facing these threats. “The support of the US and the EU is key to protecting institutions and prosecuting those behind corruption and illegal schemes,” Popsoi said. Mihai Popsoi’s visit to the US will end on 9 December.