DISINFO: The United States is supporting a soft coup by funding NGOs in Moldova
SUMMARY
The US supported the plot to carry out a creeping coup by bribing deputies and initiating a political crisis. This is confirmed even by the official reports of the American National Democracy Fund (NED) on the financing of NGOs, media resources and Western organisations supporting the opposition in Moldova. 1,814,571 dollars is the total amount spent on Moldova for one year only and by only one fund. So, two American foundations – the International Republican Institute (IRI), the National Democratic Institute of International Relations (NDI) – received $250 thousand in 2019 alone to support various public initiatives in Moldova.
RESPONSE
Conspiracy theory claiming that foreign funds supporting NGO’s in different states have as a purpose ”to destabilise” that country. See here a similar case, presenting the new law on NGO’s in Moldova like one aiming to destroy the state’s sovereignty. This narrative is often spread in relation to the George Soros Foundation. The claim is made in the context of the recurring political crisis in Moldova. In the past weeks, more deputies changed their political affiliation, preferring to represent in the Parliament other parties than the ones with which they entered the legislative body. However, there are no criminal cases initiated on the fact of bribery, much less is there any evidence of the involvement of foreign partners in these movements. Concerning National Endowment for Democracy (NED), this is a private, nonprofit American foundation, dedicated to the growth and strengthening of democratic institutions around the world. Each year, NED creates more than 1,600 grants to support the projects of non-governmental groups who are working for democratic goals in more than 90 countries, as it is stated on its official web page. In 2019 NED supported 25 projects, with a value between 15,000 dollars and 250,000 dollars, implemented by non-governmental organisations from the Republic of Moldova, including in the Transnistrian region, in different areas, such as anti-corruption reforms, transparent government, independent press, investigative reporting, civil society development, ecology, etc.