Russia paid Moldovan Orthodox priests to go on pilgrimages to Moscow and gave them debit cards with hundreds of dollars, and the priests in turn created Telegram channels to influence Moldovan elections
Mihaj Biku (39, priest of the Orthodox Church in Moldova, boarded a flight home from Moscow somewhat shocked by the unusual attention that was being paid to him.
Biku told Reuters that he and a group of several dozen Moldovan priests spent a week on an all-expenses-paid tour of some of the Russian Orthodox Church's holiest sites in September last year.
Russian Orthodox officials gave them vouchers worth 10.000 rubles ($120) to spend at church shops selling icons and souvenirs, Biku said.
He added that they attended a series of lectures by theologians and historians who emphasized that Russia and the former Soviet state of Moldova "are linked by centuries of tradition and a common faith and must stand together against the morally corrupt West."
Before flying home, Biku and many others in his group received debit cards issued by a Russian state bank, handed to them at the monastery by non-churchgoers whom he could not identify.
They were told that the money would be transferred to them shortly after they returned to Moldova.
The priests had to provide a service in return: When they received the cards, Biku said he was told that in exchange for the money, and he received about $1.200 in return, they were expected to create social media channels for their parishes in Moldova to warn their parishioners of the dangers of the pro-Western government's push for closer European integration.
A call to believers to oppose pro-Western pressure
Moldova, a small, deeply religious nation, is holding crucial parliamentary elections on Sunday that could derail its progress towards EU membership.
Although Moldova gained formal independence from Moscow in 1991, its Orthodox Church – a revered institution followed by most of its 2,4 million inhabitants – remains subordinate to the Moscow Patriarchate.
After the end of the trip of Biku and other priests from Moldova, the online campaign started.
Nearly 90 new Telegram channels have been established as accounts of Moldovan Orthodox parishes over the past year, according to Reuters.
Most channels published identical content almost daily, calling on believers to resist pro-Western pressure.
When asked where so many new channels suddenly came from, Telegram said that it is a politically neutral platform that respects peaceful freedom of speech.
Online activity is picking up as Sunday's election approaches. The source of most of the content, a channel called Sare si Lumina, which is redistributed by parish accounts, posted more than 600 messages between May and August, almost triple the number posted in the previous four months of the year.
"The EU threatens Moldova's traditional family values"
The main message is that "Moldova's traditional family values are threatened by the EU, which will force citizens to accept LGBT identities, degrade morality and destroy freedom of religion."
Although the posts are not explicitly pro-Russian, they reflect the narratives promoted by opposition parties that favor closer ties with Moscow.
"Today our country is facing a fateful choice. We are being advised to abandon religion, language and our roots in exchange for foreign rules and 'European values'," said a message published on September 18 on 39h parish channels.
"Will Moldova keep its independence or become a bridgehead for outside interests? It depends on us - let's make the right choice on September 28," the messages said.
Source: Reuters
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