Weekly Roundup: Dragalin's Letter and Other Updates
April 11, 2025
Welcome back to Moldova Matters! It’s been a week here in Moldova (and globally) so we’ve been busy. I wrote 2 articles already, one unpacking the fallout from “Liberation Day” and another diving into the details of an amnesty scandal rocking Moldovan politics. In this Weekly Roundup we’ll catch all the other important stories you might have missed.
International Affairs & Security
Here’s a roundup of the top international affairs stories of the week:
Kremlin Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova clarified that the ban on Moldovan freight carriers from entering Russia was entirely political. She highlighted Moldova’s support for Ukraine, plans to join the EU and the fact that the Moldovan government considers Russia a national security threat as the causes. This is a departure from past practice as the Kremlin usually makes up a technical or sanitation based excuse when they ban the entry of Moldovan goods.
Russia has expelled 3 Moldovan diplomats from the embassy in Moscow. The latest move was a diplomatic tit-for-tat after Moldova expelled 3 Russian diplomats alleging that they aided Shor MP Alexandr Nesterovschi’s escape to Transnistira. Minister of Foreign Affairs Mihai Popsoi responded to questions about why Moldova didn’t go further and expel the Russian Ambassador by noting that the country is seeking to avoid further escalation and noting that both countries are now down to only 4 diplomats at their embassies1.
Foreign Minister Popsoi characterized the diplomatic relationship with the United States as “strong.” He said that after conversations with American counterparts he was assured of continued support and that the country still plans on building a new Embassy in Chisinau saying: “…when it comes to investments in the new US embassy in Chisinau, we received assurances that the situation is moving in the right direction.” He also stated that Moldova has conveyed to the United States the country’s desire to have a US Ambassador in place in Chisinau, but noted that this process may be slow. He stated:
"Unfortunately, at the end of the previous government's term, the US failed to do this [confirm President Biden’s choice in the Senate]. They had a candidate who had gone through some of the necessary procedures. Now, as far as we understand, the process has started from scratch. It will take some time. We regret this, but this is the decision of our partners. We have noted that we want the presence of an American ambassador in Chisinau,"
Author’s Note: I’ll explain why it is unlikely that the US will send an ambassador to Moldova soon in a footnote2.
Belarus claims to have stopped a vehicle with Moldovan plates packed with explosives on their border. The Mercedes was trying to transit from Lithuania to Russia and was driven by a Belarusian citizen. They claim that 580 kg of PETN plastic explosives (approx. 1 ton of TNT equivalent) were disguised with sound absorbing materials and treated with scents to throw off search dogs. The driver claims to know nothing about this extra cargo. Belarus claims that the likely origin of the explosives is the United States.
EU green-lights lethal military aid package for Moldova. Brussels has allocated €20 million euros in aid to Moldova including "eight short-range air-defense systems consisting of approximately eight launchers and approximately 24 missiles." The delivery will be organized by the Estonian Center for Defense Investments.
Former Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Dragalin’s Letter
The biggest story of the week in crime, corruption and justice reform (after the one where multiple serial killers were released from prison) involved a 2024 email from Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Veronica Dragalin to former Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) judge, Mariana Ursachi. Back in November 2025 Judge Ursachi failed vetting due to the commission’s assessment of issues with her financial integrity. Among other issues was the judge’s declaration that her Porsche Cayenne only cost 11,000 lei (~$600). The Judge chose not to defend herself or provide clarifications, leading to her dismissal.
Following this, Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Dragalin wrote an email to the judge saying:
"I believe that there is a considerable risk that you have had and will continue to have negative professional consequences as a result of political pressure, including in the disciplinary procedure pending at the SCM…”
In the email she lays out a series of accusations of political involvement in the vetting procedure that Dragalin says may “affect your [Ursachi’s] fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova.”
She further claimed that:
"…during 2024, I was approached by Prime Minister Dorin Recean and President Maia Sandu regarding the vetting procedure regarding prosecutors from the PA, both requesting the list of prosecutors that I consider to be of integrity and who, from my point of view, should pass vetting."
This email was then shared by lawyer Cristina Ciubotaru during a meeting of the Superior Council of Magistracy (SCM) during an appeals process involving former judge Mariana Ursachi.
Dragalin further alleged that she received Signal messages from SCM member Ion Guzun which she interpreted as encouragement to initiate criminal cases based on allegedly illegal decisions issued by SCJ judges in August 2023.
It’s unclear why Dragalin sent this email to a former judge and did not make any accusations public.
Reactions to the Email
Initially, the President’s Press Secretary released a statement saying that it is “regrettable that the former Chief Prosecutor is making false accusations regarding the discussions she had with the President of the country.” It went on to state that President Sandu has repeatedly supported vetting/pre-vetting and the goal of cleaning out the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office and that:
“We regret that the Prosecutor does not agree with this cleansing, carried out in parallel with the promotion of honest prosecutors and judges and the construction of an integral justice system ,"
President Sandu later stated that she "categorically rejects" the accusations made by Dragalin and clarified the “lists of prosecutors” issue saying:
"When we talked about vetting, the former head of the Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office expressed her concern that vetting would block the PA's [Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office’s] activity, and would also block the activity of prosecutors dealing with cases of national importance. Our recommendation was to discuss with the commission so that these prosecutors could be evaluated more quickly and could continue working on these cases after the evaluation,"
The President went on to note that a similar prioritization process took place with the SCJ vetting in response to fears that the process would paralyze the court. The President stated that "there was never any discussion about the results of those evaluations."
Ion Guzun of the SCM also responded saying:
"It is regrettable when personal statements, motivated by grievances related to the loss of a public office, are presented in public as verdicts on an entire reform, and a communication taken out of context is presented as an indictment."
He went on to say that he sees these communications as part of a strategy to defend judges who are in the midst of a judiciary proceeding with the SCM.
Recall: This is not the first time that Veronica Dragalin has made accusations against the integrity of the vetting process. Back in May 2024 she forced the resignation of retired judge Tatiana Raducanu from the vetting committee after accusing the judge of links to fugitive oligarchs - links that so far have still not been substantiated. At the time Dragalin was accused by political leaders of attempting to slow or undermine the vetting process before it could begin work in her office. We covered these events at the time here:
Other Crime, Corruption and Justice Reform News
Here’s a roundup of the other top stories in justice from this week:
Olesea Stamate un-expelled from PAS? PAS Party leader Igor Grosu has stated that, in spite of the public announcement expelling Stamate for her role in promoting the amnesty amendments, no final decision has been made on her future in the party. He gave no more answers except to say that talks were ongoing and that they were listening to all sides of the issue.
Fallout from the amnesty scandal reaches the Ministry of Justice. PAS MP Igor Chiriac refused to comment on whether the Minister of Justice would be forced to resign over the scandal, saying only that this decision belongs to the Prime Minister. The question comes on the heels of new reporting that amendments introduced in summer 2024, which were unrelated to the amnesty, made it possible to apply for parole once 25 years of a life sentence were served. Previously it was 30 years. The Ministry of Justice explained that this change was made to align with EU norms where 25 years is considered the maximum time before parole eligibility (with most countries having shorter requirements). Meanwhile, the Constitutional Court has paused application of the amnesty to lifers while considering arguments from the General Prosecutor about a threat to the public.
National Police Chief Viorel Cernăuţanu announced that another (unnamed) country is seeking Vladimir Plahotniuc. He stated that he couldn’t name the country because the investigation is ongoing but that the fugitive oligarch is facing charges related to identity theft. He did state that the country is not Mexico.
The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and RISE have confirmed that Plahotniuc’s Mexican passport is a fake. They confirmed that the numbers don’t match any Mexican databases and then got confirmation from the Mexican government.
Ilan Shor & Hybrid Warfare News
Here’s a roundup of the top Shor related cases of the week:
National Police Chief Viorel Cernăuțanu has clarified the timeline of the escapes of Shor-MPs. He stated that Irina Lozovan and her husband Pavel Gîrleanu left Moldova before Alexandru Nesterovsky escaped with the help of the Russian Embassy. The chief did not allege direct Russian participation in Lozovan’s escape but speculated that she made her move in the knowledge of Nesterovsky’s coming flight and assuming that following this she would be unlikely to escape herself. The police chief also alleged that the bomb threat at the Russian embassy may have been staged by the Russians in order to distract from Nesterovsky’s flight. He noted that there have been bomb threats agains the Russian embassy before but that this is the first and only time that Moldovan police were allowed to enter the premises and do an inspection. He also noted that the call making the bomb threat came from Moldovan territory and that police are investigating. Nesterovsky’s escape made international news including on CNN.
Shor / Pobeda Block activists protested at the airport while the 3 Russian diplomats were expelled. They waved Russian flags and played patriotic soviet songs as the diplomats left.
Court hearings in the ongoing trial of Bashkan Evghenia Gutsul were delayed due to a bomb threat against the courthouse (again). The building was cleared but the trial was delayed.
Bashkan Evghenia Gutsul moved from pre-trial detention to house arrest. Prosecutors had asked the judge to extend her pre-trial detention for 30 days, but this was denied against arguments that she isn’t a flight risk and has small children. The Bashkan has been fitted with an electronic ankle bracelet and is prohibited from using her phone.
The United Kingdom has levied sanctions against Shor’s Evrazia NGO and other linked groups. The stated reason for the sanctions is the role of these individuals and Evrazia in "fraudulent elections in the Republic of Moldova." The sanctions include Marina Tauber, Natalia Parasca (interim president of the Renaissance Party) and Nelli Parutenco director of Evrazia. Evrasia and Nelli Parutenco were previously sanctioned by the EU. Natalia Parasca has since complained that her bank accounts in Moldova have been blocked as a result of the UK sanctions saying that the Moldovan authorities "use external sanctions as an instrument of internal terror."
Political News
Here’s a roundup of the top political stories of the week (except for all those ones above):
Prime Minister Recean presented draft amendments to the 2025 budget calling the new proposals the Budget+Plus plan. The amendments lay out a massive new investment plan that the government says is designed to create 5% GDP growth by 2028. It envisions 8 billion lei in energy compensation mechanisms for individuals and target industries, 1 billion lei for road repair, 200 million lei to modernize the cafeterias of all Moldovan school, 3000 lei supplemental salary bonuses for young people working their first jobs and much more. The program is supported by the EU’s new package of financial support to Moldova. The Prime Minister said:
"This is the largest financial package ever allocated by the Moldovan government for investment and economic growth. I would like to emphasize that such a distribution of resources was possible only due to the EU's great openness to supporting Moldova on its path to modernization."
President Sandu wrote commemorating the anniversary of the April 2009 events:
"Freedom does not come by itself. It must be defended every day - especially when it is threatened by those who would have people live in fear and lose hope." …
"On April 7, 2009, thousands of young people took to the streets not for a party or an ideology, but for a simple and powerful idea: only citizens have the right to decide their future. Their voice broke through the walls of fear - and some of them paid a very high price for this belief,"
Author’s Note: If you’re interested in understanding the events of April 2009 better listen to episode 1 this 3 part podcast series I recorded last summer on the first Alliance for European Integration:
This week President Sandu spoke at the regional forum “European Cooperation for Roma Integration: From Policy to Action.” At the event she spoke about how “diversity can be turned into a force that unites us, not divides us” and emphasized that:
"The European Union means more support for communities, more resources to make their voices heard, and more confidence that the rights of every person will be respected,"
Janis Mažeiks, Ambassador of the European Union to Moldova, answered a question this week about whether or not Moldova could join the EU by 2030. In his answer, he drew attention to the importance of the parliamentary elections and how critical it will be to maintain the push for EU membership saying:
“For me, the main issue is the parliamentary elections, because after these elections there will be a new government. It depends on it whether it is ready to invest as many resources in the process of European integration as the current government. The answer to your question depends on this, whether it is realistic that Moldova will become an EU member by 2030. If we move at the current pace, yes, it is realistic,”
Wow, what a week! There are times when it is really quite challenging to keep up with the pace of events here and globally. If you like Moldova Matters, and want to support the work that goes into this newsletter please subscribe. It’s just $8 / month and goes a long way towards supporting the work of this newsletter.
Also… if you’re interested in some more light reading, I have a new essay out on my other Substack, Fools & Foreigners. Last week I wrote an article for Moldova Matters about Trump’s tariffs and as I always do I posted a link on my various social media accounts. Normally, no one really notices but yesterday a *wild* debate exploded in the comments of this week old article on Linkedin. I look at the weirdness of social media and what it’s like to have a post go viral… without anyone noticing what the post is about. Here’s the article if you’re interested:
This likely relies on a fairly narrow definition of “diplomat.” The Russian embassy is a huge compound which is entirely staffed by Russian citizens. This does not mean that there are only 4 Russians left in the Chisinau embassy, though there probably aren’t many more than 4 Moldovans left in Moscow.
US Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) placed a “blanket hold” on all State Department nominees back in February in protest against the dismantling of USAID. In US Senate parlance a “hold” is when a Senator indicates that they will deny “unanimous consent” for a nominee, or in this case a whole category of nominees. This forces the Senate to vote for each nominee one by one - eating up a massive amount of floor time.
Schatz expanded his hold last week to add more than 300 new positions. What all of this means is that Republican Senate leaders will need to carefully prioritize who they confirm while they negotiate to get the hold dropped. Senator Schatz has indicated that he isn’t willing to drop the hold so there’s a major impasse. In the meantime, the American ambassador to Moldova is nobody’s priority. Trump hasn’t even nominated a candidate either. Based on past timelines it seems extremely unlikely that Moldova will get an ambassador in the next 6 months. If the “hold” holds… it could be years.