Moldovan government's spokesman warns: Chisinau Airport might be turned into military airfield, used by Russia against Ukraine

The spokesperson for the government, Daniel Voda, has warned that the scenario in which Chisinau Airport might be transformed into a "military airfield," to be used by the Russian Federation for attacks on Ukraine, "is being examined by the authorities with utmost seriousness" and could become a reality, if pro-Russian forces win in the parliamentary elections. Daniel Voda made statements to this effect on the program, Face to Face, aired on the public television channel Moldova 1.

"This topic, in some cases, has unfortunately been trivialized in the public space, because it has always been simplified to airspace restriction. The hybrid war waged by the Russian Federation against Moldova is not singular; it does not concern only our country. We see the same malign action in the Baltic countries, Poland, not to mention Ukraine, which is being aggressed and brutalized through those daily drone and missile attacks by the Russians, including on infrastructure objects," said Daniel Voda.

According to him, this public warning was also echoed by Prime Minister Dorin Recean, when interacting with the foreign press, when he "warned about the possibility of the arrival in Moldova of 10,000 Russian soldiers, in the event that Chisinau will have a government that tolerates and would, in fact, be a puppet of the Kremlin."

"The same issue was discussed last autumn, when reputable sources from the Ukrainian government, and the security structures of Moldova warned about the possibility of an operational scenario, a scenario which is being examined by the authorities with utmost seriousness. And when I speak of the authorities, I want to make it clear, we are not talking only about politicians or the top officials in the state, who are the most informed, but we are talking about people who analyze all security risks, patriotic people in the force institutions of Moldova, whose job description obliges them to examine all risks," said Daniel Voda.

The government’s spokesperson noted that the state authorities were considering  this risk and that citizens need to be informed about these scenarios.

"And now let me explain why this hypothesis, formulated even from the governing circles, is true. I want to remind you of the time when this state was captured by the criminal syndicate Plahotniuc, when decisions were not made at the state institutions we know, government, presidency, parliament, but were made at the headquarters of a party by one man. At that time, the discretion on whom to accept at the Chisinau International Airport or not, was not taken by the competent authority; it was taken by one person. Returning to the question you asked me, how they might do it. We now have commercial flights. These commercial flights fly daily from various directions. Indeed, commercial flights coming from the Western area undergo additional checks in the Schengen area. Security risks in this area are smaller. At the same time, we accept commercial flights coming, for example, from Armenia or Turkey, from other areas in the region. And with these flights, you can have people who do not necessarily have an honest agenda towards Moldova. (...) We are happy and think through the prism of the freedoms and democracy in which we live, that it is not possible, no solution will be found. But I want to tell you that a malign force, if it has set a malicious plan, can bring it to completion. And when the state authorities examine this risk, they communicate it with all seriousness, it seems to me that, as people with higher education, who necessarily want to understand the depth of some phenomena, the questions that need to be examined is to discuss these risks and scenarios, for everyone to understand how this can happen," the government’s spokesperson said.

Daniel Voda reminded that "not long ago, the Chisinau International Airport was bringing money to a fugitive oligarch convicted in Moldova," and the state intervened and took over the control of the airfield. "The state acts in other areas as well. The three most informed people in this state, from all the services that exist in Moldova, are President Sandu, Prime Minister Recean, and Parliament Speaker Grosu. And when these three people come with information verified by our authorities, the natural proposal is to debate these scenarios further and analyze them, in order to understand how we can protect ourselves as citizens," the government’s spokesperson noted.

Daniel Voda said that, when the warning about possible airport use scenarios had been issued, the actions taken by the authorities were also discussed.

"I remind you of the decisions of the Supreme Security Council. At a news conference held by President Sandu, she spoke about those 10 directions in which the Russian Federation is acting. And here there are such elements as lies spread, cryptocurrency operations, including destabilization actions on the Transnistrian region pathway, which is used by Russia as a pressure element. And most seriously, in my opinion, is the division. The division and mistrust that is sown in institutions. And here, ultimately, we are also talking about our ability to have integrity," concluded Daniel Voda.