Moldova court bans pro-Russian Shor party

ISTANBUL

Moldova's Constitutional Court on Monday banned the pro-Russian Shor party and declared it “unconstitutional.”

The Justice Ministry will appoint a commission for the liquidation of the party, led by exiled businessman Ilan Shor, the president of the Constitutional Court, Nicolae Rosca, said in the ruling.

He added that that its deputies will continue to exercise their mandates but as independents, without the right to affiliate with other parliamentary factions.

Created in 2016 out of a party known as the Socio-Political Movement Equality, the party was sanctioned by the US and EU over accusations of working with Russia to “create political unrest” in Moldova.

The former Soviet Republic, whose economy has taken a hit since Russia’s war on Ukraine, has sought to escape from Moscow’s influence and was granted an EU candidate status last June.

Moldovan President Maia Sandu welcomed the court's decision, saying the ruling was expected because Moldovans "value and want to live in a democratic state, in a state of law, where criminal organizations are not protected, but prevented from capturing the state.”

Sandu said Moldova must become a state that “sanctions and prevents the corrupt from using the state and public money for personal interest," adding that Moldovans want a state that will “protect them from thieves and do justice.”

In February, Sandu said Russia was planning a coup in Moldova, claiming that Ukrainian intelligence had flagged details of an alleged plot, but the accusations were denied by the Kremlin.