For 27-year-old Nikolae Hristov, a bouncer in a Moldovan nightclub, unaffordable energy prices are proof that the pro-EU government should turn away from Brussels and look to Russia, which has its grip on the country’s gas supply.
“The government said it could change this country, but it cannot even control prices for energy and basic goods,” Hristov said last month while taking part in Moldova’s largest protests since President Maia Sandu came to power in 2020.
Organised by the pro-Russian Șor party, the demonstrations blocked the avenue separating parliament from Sandu’s towering presidential palace. Some protesters stayed for days, sleeping in tents. Michail Uceryavy, a gardener who joined those on the streets, argued that “like Serbia, we could talk to Russia, but our government only believes in talking to the EU”.