Moldova’s Pro-Western Government Collapses as Fallout From Ukraine War Worsens
Moldova’s pro-Western government resigned amid the worsening economic fallout from the war in neighboring Ukraine, a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Russia was trying to destabilize the country.
Announcing her decision Friday, Moldovan Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita told a news briefing in the capital Chisinau that no one could have predicted the scale of the challenges her government has faced since the Russian invasion began nearly a year ago. Inflation has soared in the former Soviet republic, peaking at 30% in December after Moscow’s decision to throttle natural-gas supplies, and prompting a wave of street protests. At times Moldova has suffered power cuts after Russian attacks on the electrical grid in Ukraine, while an influx of refugees have strained public services.
Security risks are growing, too. On Friday, the Moldovan and Romanian defense ministries said Russia had launched a cruise missile from a warship in the Black Sea, steering it through Moldovan airspace en route to a target in Ukraine, adding to fears that the war could spill over Ukraine’s borders.
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