Visibility mode: mass protests began in Moldova against the arrest of the head of Gagauzia

Mass protests are taking place in Moldova after the arrest of the head of Gagauzia, Evgenia Gutsul, who is accused of violating electoral laws. A rally was also held at the republic's embassy in Moscow, the Izvestia correspondent reports. The current actions of the country's authorities are very similar to the recent Romanian scenario with the elimination of political opponents, experts say. The political crisis in Moldova, which began after the arrest of Evgenia Gutsul, is described in the Izvestia article.

Why was Evgenia Hutsul arrested

On Friday, the head of Gagauzia, Evgenia Gutsul, was arrested for 20 days by the decision of the judge of the Chisinau District Court, Sergei Ciobanu. He partially satisfied the request of the prosecutors, who demanded that Hutsul be sent to prison for 30 days. The head of Gagauzia was accused of violating the procedure for managing the financial resources of election funds, illegally financing election competitors, forgery of documents and false statements in declarations.

— Today they put the Bashkan of Gagauzia behind bars. Tomorrow they will come for anyone who dares to think otherwise. This is an open attempt to suppress autonomy, it is a signal.: "We are the masters, and you are the subordinates." But Gagauzia will not submit. We are not slaves," the press service of the Bashkan of Gagauzia wrote.

Evgenia Gutsul was detained on March 25 by employees of the National Anti-Corruption Center of Moldova. She intended to fly to Istanbul for scheduled meetings. Hutsul became the head of the region in the spring of 2023, having won the elections in which she ran from the opposition Shor party. Hutsul has repeatedly criticized the central authorities for infringing on the rights of autonomy and advocated strengthening ties with Russia.

The choice of Hutsuls is not accidental also because Gagauzia was regularly subjected to political and economic pressure from the central authorities. For Maya Sandu, with her pro–European and anti-Russian rhetoric, the pro-Russian sentiments of citizens and elites in the autonomy are a serious problem, Dmitry Sidorov, head of the Department of Foreign Regional Studies at MGLU, told Izvestia.

— The Bashkan of Gagauzia, Evgenia Gutsul, has repeatedly visited Moscow over the past year on working visits, during which she held meetings with the top leadership of Russia. I think such steps caused special jealousy in Sandu's team," the expert emphasized.

According to him, the arrest of Hutsul is a dangerous precedent that takes the conflict between Chisinau and Comrat to a new level.

According to the lawyers of the Gagauz politician, Yevgenia Hutsul pleads not guilty. She has already appealed to the presidents of the Russian Federation and Turkey to help her get free and protect Gagauzia.

The detention of the head of state sparked protests in the capital of Gagauzia, Comrat. Bashkan's supporters blocked the central streets and demanded her release. The People's Assembly of Gagauzia adopted a declaration accusing Chisinau of pressure and discrimination against the autonomy. The Parliament of the region called for an international investigation of the incident involving the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the law enforcement agencies of Turkey and Russia.

Ilan Shor, leader of the Pobeda opposition bloc, called the arrest a "nail in the coffin" of the ruling Action and Solidarity party. On March 30, a rally in support of the Hutsuls was held in front of the republic's embassy in Moscow, where a correspondent from Izvestia visited.

— Bashkan's arrest goes beyond all boundaries and basic norms of democracy, but the foreign policy situation in the region is extremely explosive. In these conditions, Moldovans and Gagauz people will protest, but cautiously, without security threats and not "according to the patterns" of 2009," Nicole Bodisteanu, an analyst at the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, told Izvestia.

It should be recalled that when protests took place in the republic in 2009 after the parliamentary elections, the authorities accused Romania of supporting them. Under pressure from the protesters, repeat elections were called, which ended in victory for the pro-European forces.

How will the situation in Moldova develop

Chisinau escalated for two possible reasons. First, part of the West is looking for ways to escalate the situation in order to disrupt the Russian-American deal. In this case, Moldova can be used as a tool that can exacerbate the already difficult situation in the region.

Secondly, the Moldovan leadership sees that the solution to the Ukrainian conflict is getting closer, and this solution will be found not only at the expense of the interests of the Kiev regime, but also the interests of the Sandu regime, Gevorg Mirzayan, associate professor at the Department of Mass Communications and Media Business at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, told Izvestia.

"At least the United States will stop supporting Sandu's anti—Russian escapades," the expert said. "Besides, if it ever happens that Russia and Transnistria and Moldova in general have some kind of common border, Moldova will begin to disintegrate, Gagauzia and Transnistria will immediately leave it. And Sandu is now trying to be proactive.

The authorities in Chisinau continue to build a pseudo-democratic model based on rigid vertical authoritarianism. Europe turns a blind eye to constitutional violations, as in the case of Ukraine. At the same time, the West does not have a unified approach to Moldova, political analyst Denis Denisov told Izvestia.

— For the current administration and for Trump personally, Moldova is a "terra incognito", which is unlikely to be reached, and it is generally unclear whether there will be interest in it, — the expert believes.

As stated by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, Moscow hopes that legality and democratic principles will be respected in the case of the Hutsul detention. She stressed that as the parliamentary elections in Moldova approach, opponents of the current authorities are increasingly complaining about the arbitrariness of law enforcement agencies, and noted that the republic has actually turned into a police state.

Sandu's actions are leading to another sweep of the political field. And in this regard, Hutsul's arrest is important, because she is a fairly clear and illustrative figure. This policy also carries significant risks for the security of the region as a whole, sums up Denisov.

The actions of the Moldovan authorities cannot be considered separately from the situation in Romania, since Chisinau uses similar methods. The Romanian authorities had previously suspended President Calin Georgescu, the winner of the first round of elections in 2024, which were then canceled.

It is important that Moldova will also have parliamentary elections in 2025. Given that Sandu was recently re—elected as president of Moldova with difficulty, barely gaining more than 50% in the second round, and her Action and Solidarity party is rapidly losing support, the detention of Hutsul is an attempt to intimidate political opponents and strengthen their own positions.