EU council sanctions individuals, entities responsible for destabilising Moldova

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Council said in a statement on Tuesday that it had imposed sanctions on seven individuals and three entities "responsible for actions aimed at destabilising" Moldova, whose leaders are bidding to join the EU by 2030.

A statement by the Council said those targeted were close associates of Ilan Shor, a fugitive business magnate sentenced in absentia to 15 years in prison in connection with the 2014 disappearance of $1 billion from the Moldovan banking system.

Shor lives in Russia, where he oversees the activities of the pro-Russian "Victory" bloc, accused by Moldovan authorities of illegally financing electoral activities in Moldova, which lies between Ukraine and Romania.

The bloc was barred by the courts from participating in last year's Moldovan presidential election and referendum on Moldova's drive to join the European Union.

Its leaders are barred from entering the EU and are subject to an asset freeze under the directive.

The EU statement said some of the people listed "have been actively involved in vote buying schemes, in the context of the presidential elections and of the constitutional referendum on EU accession of 2024, and bribery to corrupt several politicians".

Victoria Furtuna, leader of the Moldova Mare party and subject to the order, vowed to mount a legal challenge, saying groups in Brussels were "shamelessly and openly ...choosing on their own who is going to run our sovereign state".

Two others on the list are pro-Russian lawmakers who have disappeared after being convicted on corruption charges.

Pro-European President Maia Sandu, who has accused the Kremlin of trying to subvert her country, won re-election last year by a slim margin and a referendum endorsing her EU membership campaign also passed only narrowly.

Moldovan police last year accused Shor of funnelling large sums illegally to voters ahead of the polls and Sandu said the vote-buying scheme had influenced the outcome of the votes.

A poll published on Tuesday credited Sandu's Party of Action and Solidarity with 27.4% of voting intentions ahead of a September parliamentary election, compared to 10.4% for the pro-Russian opposition Socialists and 6.2% for the Victory bloc.

(Reporting by Geert De Clercq and by Alexander Tanas in Chisinau, editing by Charlotte Van Campenhout, Ron Popeski and Sandra Maler)