Moldova’s President Reshuffles Government on Security Risks

(Bloomberg) -- Moldovan President Maia Sandu shook up her government by appointing a top security adviser to be premier as the former Soviet republic bordering Ukraine confronts an increasingly perilous geopolitical environment.

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Dorin Recean, 48, a former interior minister and senior aide, will replace Natalia Gavrilita, 45, as prime minister, Sandu told reporters Friday. The appointment requires the approval of Moldova’s parliament, where Sandu’s pro-European party controls a majority.

“Our economy and security need new life and the new government needs to increase the country’s level of security and keep Moldova within the ranks of the free and democratic world,” Sandu said in Chisinau. A new administration will be formed swiftly, she said.

The nation of 2.6 million, Europe’s poorest, is wedged between Ukraine and Romania and has come under intense pressure since the start of Russia’s invasion. Driving home the point, Russian cruise missiles launched as part of the Kremlin’s biggest attack this year passed through Moldova’s air space earlier Friday.

Moldova’s vulnerable position has stoked worries that the country could also be overrun if Russia sought to link the breakaway region of Transnistria, formally recognized as part of Moldova, to Moscow-controlled territories.

Reduced Russian natural gas deliveries and the destruction of energy infrastructure in Ukraine have played havoc with Moldova’s supplies, forcing it to make an abrupt shift to western resources.

A government estimate last year put the bill to cover the costs at over $1 billion, or about 8% of Moldova’s economy. That report described a Kremlin effort to bring down Sandu’s government.

Moldova applied for EU membership and gained candidate status after the conflict erupted. The government has received hundreds of millions of euros in the past year from the EU and other international donors to help the country stay afloat.

Promising to restore “order and discipline” to Moldova’s institutions in carrying out reforms, Recean said his priority will be to improve the economy and bolster security in a complicated geopolitical context.

He’ll ensure Moldova implements the EU’s requirements, “not because we need to check some points, but because they will bring wealth to the country,” he said alongside Sandu. Gavrilita was appointed prime minister in August 2021.

Sandu said the reshuffled administration “needs to continue and accelerate the cleaning up of Moldova’s justice system, because this is the pledge we made to the citizens.”

--With assistance from Mark Sweetman.

(Updates with Moldova’s vulnerability, quotes from Recean from sixth paragraph.)

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