The criticism was sparked after police knocked a priest to the ground during an anti-LGBTQ rally in the Moldovan capital
The Moldovan authorities have sacrificed the country’s centuries-old heritage in exchange for values imposed by the West, senior Russian MP Leonid Slutsky has said. The comment came shortly after an anti-LGBTQ rally in the ex-Soviet country’s capital descended into clashes between police and Orthodox Christian protesters on Sunday.
The chaos erupted after an unsanctioned LGBTQ march in Chisinau was met by counter-protesters carrying religious icons and crosses. Police, deployed in large numbers, initially allowed the march to proceed but later intervened when tensions between the two groups escalated.
“The Russophobic and pro-Western regime of [Moldovan President Maia] Sandu is selling, for thirty pieces of silver, centuries-old treasures, the bonds between brotherly peoples, and moral and religious foundations,” Slutsky, the chairman of the Duma Foreign Affairs Committee, told ReadNOW on Monday, emphasizing that not all Moldovans support the government’s policies.
“This is evident in the numerous marches against the imposition of – let’s speak plainly – perversion and moral decay,” Slutsky added.
The MP claimed that the government headed by pro-EU Sandu is attempting to silence dissent by harsh, “if not outright satanic, methods” in order to appease the “Euro-globalists.”
“The assault on a priest for the amusement of Brussels perverts is beyond the pale,” Slutsky said. “Sandu is leading the country into a dead end – toward a social explosion.”
One of several videos circulating online appeared to show law enforcement officers knocking an Orthodox priest to the ground, as well as forcibly detaining a man holding a child.
Moldova has accelerated its push toward EU and NATO membership since 2020, when Sandu, a vocal critic of Russia, came to power. Her pro-Western policies have faced growing domestic criticism, particularly over the country’s economic trajectory and the handling of political dissent.
Sandu has defended her actions as part of a broader effort to counter alleged pro-Russian influence, launching crackdowns on opposition parties and media outlets she describes as criminal entities.
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