All news

Chisinau plans to completely abolish Gagauzia’s autonomy — leader

Evghenia Gutsul said that she is against depriving the Gagauz people of their special status
Head of the Gagauz autonomy Evghenia Gutsul Vadim Denisov/TASS
Head of the Gagauz autonomy Evghenia Gutsul
© Vadim Denisov/TASS

CHISINAU, October 15. /TASS/. The government of Moldova wants to completely abolish the autonomy of Gagauzia, head of the Gagauz autonomy Evghenia Gutsul told TASS in an interview, whose text was handed over by her lawyers.

"Chisinau’s ultimate goal is to completely abolish the autonomy. They want to turn us into an ordinary region, governed from the capital, and to deprive the Gagauz people of their special status, for which we fought for generations. But I want to assure you and all residents of Gagauzia: we will not let them to put their plans into practice," she said.

On August 5, 2025, Gutsul was sentenced to seven years in prison on charges of illegal financing of the opposition party Sor. Apart from that, she was banned from being a member of any political party for five years and fined $2.4 million, the amount she allegedly took to finance her campaign. Her defense challenged the court ruling.