Moldovan broadcaster's building defaced in pre-election vandalism wave

29/9/2024 6:34

        Moldova's state-owned broadcaster said on Saturday that vandals had poured paint across an entrance to its building in the capital, Chisinau, a day after police blamed similar incidents on a group trained in Moscow to destabilise upcoming elections.
        
        "We are not afraid of this act of vandalism, as long as we are devoted to society and citizens," Teleradio-Moldova's deputy director general, Andrei Zapsa, said, adding that the station had always known it could be targeted by "radical groups."
        
        Paint was also poured on the Supreme Court building overnight, police said.
        
        Moldovan authorities have linked such incidents to a group trained in Moscow to provoke instability ahead of a presidential poll next month, in which pro-European incumbent, President Maia Sandu, is favored to beat a field of 10 challengers.
        
        Sandu's opponents are led by Alexander Stoianoglo, who was dismissed from his position as prosecutor general and is backed by pro-Russian opposition parties, and Renato Usatii, who favours good links with both the West and Moscow.