Moldova’s Parliament on Thursday voted to shut down a Russian cultural centre in Chisinau, marking the latest step by the pro-European government to curb Moscow’s influence a day after summoning Russia’s ambassador over what it called unacceptable drone incursions.
Fifty-seven lawmakers in the 101-seat assembly supported the resolution. President Maia Sandu’s ruling Party of Action and Solidarity holds a clear majority, giving the measure an assured passage.
The government said the Russian Centre for Science and Culture could serve as a platform for promoting narratives that threaten Moldova’s security. Although the decision has been taken, legal requirements mean the centre will remain open until July 2026. Its potential closure has been debated for months.
Sandu, elected in 2020, has made European Union membership a central priority and aims for accession by the end of the decade. She has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and accused Moscow of attempting to destabilise Moldova and manipulate public sentiment in the former Soviet republic, which borders Ukraine and EU member Romania.
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Culture Minister Cristian Jordan said the government had been unable to determine the nature of the centre’s operations, noting that “since 2021 it has not proposed a single joint project or event.”
Russia-friendly opposition parties criticised the move, saying authorities failed to present any concrete evidence of wrongdoing.
Moldova’s Foreign Ministry first called for the centre’s closure after drone violations of its airspace earlier this year. On Wednesday, it denounced the latest incident involving what it said were six Russian drones, describing the flights as a “serious violation of Moldova’s sovereignty and a direct threat to national and regional security.”
Russian ambassador Oleg Ozerov cast doubt on whether the drone displayed outside the ministry was genuinely linked to an intrusion, suggesting the episode was intended to further damage Moscow’s already strained relations with Chisinau.
Russia has accused Moldova of pursuing a “Russophobic” agenda, and both countries have expelled each other’s diplomats in recent months, most recently in April.
