Pro-Russian party banned in Moldova after coup warnings

A pro-Kremlin party which has called for regime change in Moldova has been dissolved by the country’s top court, just weeks after its leader was sanctioned by the EU over his links to Moscow.

In a ruling handed down Monday, Moldova’s Constitutional Court said that the Shor Party would be wound up after its activities were found to be “unconstitutional.”

Headed by Moldovan-Israeli businessman Ilan Shor, the party has organized rallies against Moldova’s pro-Western government in recent months, calling for the departure of President Maia Sandu. Demonstrators have clashed with police and several arrests have been reported.

A commission will now be appointed by the Ministry of Justice to oversee “the liquidation and deletion of this party from the state register of legal entities.”

Marina Tauber, one of the party’s top lieutenants, called the ruling “shameful and unprecedented.”

In May, Shor, Tauber and other top party officials were sanctioned by the EU “in view of actions destabilizing the Republic of Moldova.” In its order, the EU Council said the political movement “is involved in the payment and training of persons in order to provoke disorder and unrest.”

The warning came after the president of neighboring Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelsnkyy, said his intelligence services had intercepted a Moscow-backed plan to stage a coup in the former Soviet republic. According to Sandu, the plot would have included “sabotage and militarily trained people disguised as civilians to carry out violent actions, attacks on government buildings and taking hostages.”

Shor was found guilty in April of a €254 million bank fraud scheme. Brussels says the funds would have been used to help overthow the government.

Moldova has pursued closer ties with the West since the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine, and has been granted EU candidate status.