(Bloomberg) -- Russia plans to unleash a hybrid attack against Moldova in a bid to undermine the former Soviet republic’s plan to join the European Union and maintain Kremlin influence, Moldova’s intelligence chief said. 

The campaign will involve “an unprecedented level of intensity in Russia’s actions,” Alexandru Musteata, the director of Moldova’s Intelligence and Security Service, told reporters Tuesday in the capital Chisinau. He said authorities had uncovered information showing Russia aimed to disrupt Moldova’s presidential election and EU referendum this year. 

Moldova’s pro-European president, Maia Sandu, will seek a second term in an election scheduled for later this year as she seeks to steer the nation of 2.6 million wedged between Ukraine and Romania into the European fold and break the Kremlin’s influence. 

Sandu, who has been the target of Moscow’s ire, has laid out a blueprint for Moldova to join the EU by 2030. Accession talks opened last December.  

But authorities in Chisinau have long warned of Russian efforts to destabilize the political system. Musteata said Russia, amplifying a message via social media channels such as Telegram and TikTok, will ramp up attacks over the next two months by backing pro-Russian protests, fomenting violence and backing the breakaway region of Transnistria. 

Transnistria’s self-proclaimed administration last week called on Moscow to come to its aid in a standoff with the central government in Chisinau, pushing back against Sandu’s bid to reassert control over the region. The call followed speculation that Transnistria would seek to join Russia. 

Russia has repeatedly denied meddling in foreign elections. The Foreign Ministry last week dismissed the talk of annexation, accusing NATO of trying to mold Moldova into a “second Ukraine” against the position of a majority in the country. 

Another autonomous region in Moldova, Gagauzia, is also viewed as a pro-Russian entity where Moscow can leverage pressure to destabilize the country. 

Moldova’s intelligence chief said Moscow continued to place its bets on the pro-Russian political network around oligarch Ilan Shor, who was convicted of fraud in 2019 and came under US sanctions for seeking to subvert Moldova’s democratic institutions. Shor’s network will aim to undermine the results of the EU referendum, Musteata said. Shor has denied accusations of wrongdoing from Chisinau as he seeks closer bonds with Russia. 

Next year, Moldova will hold parliamentary elections, in which Sandu’s ruling party, Action and Solidarity, will compete with a number of pro-Russian parties to maintain its majority. 

“The goal of Russia’s challenges for 2025 is control of Moldova’s parliament,” Musteata said. 

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