CHISINAU, February 11. /TASS/. Moldova’s opposition is set to picket the US embassy protesting against the support it says Washington provides to the current authorities, the leader of the opposition’s Party of Socialists, Igor Dodon said on Thursday.
"The United States has backed the corrupt regime in Moldova thanks to what the oligarchs who seized power have avoided snap elections demanded by the people," said Dodon, whose party has the largest faction in the parliament controlling a quarter of mandates.
The politician reminded that US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland held consultations with the Romanian leadership during consultations on January 18 and voiced support for the new ruling majority and the government formed by Moldova’s Democratic Party.
"Nuland discussed this issue in Bucharest, not in Chisinau, and decided on the future of this country as if we have no sovereignty or independence. They make plans from overseas on Moldova’s annexation by the Great Romania so that NATO would cover a larger territory in eastern Europe," Dodon said.
The US embassy in Chisinau has rejected these accusations in a statement. The document, published by Moldova’s mass media, says that Washington fully supports the independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty of Moldova.
Moldova’s former prime minister Ion Sturza said Nuland has supported the country’s authorities accused of corruption in order not to allow the increasing influence of Russia in Chisinau.
"They tell us directly: yes, you are robbed and humiliated, yes, Moldova is a black hole, yes, corruption reaches maximum levels, yes, all this is so. But it is most important that the Russians do not come," Sturza said.
The politician has criticized the US officials’ statements on Moldova’s "success story" saying that this was invented by secret service agents or diplomats who reported about Moldova’s success and made their contribution to the criminal regime in Chisinau.
"Now it is difficult for them to acknowledge this, this is a problem for image and career. The European diplomats chose the easiest way: they just retreated," he said.
Moldova has been rocked by mass protests demanding government resignation since the autumn of 2015. Opposition leaders say that the power in the country has been seized by oligarchs and seek early parliamentary elections.