Oslo – Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today announced that Canada is imposing sanctions against seven individuals and one entity in Moldova as part of the Special Economic Measures (Moldova) Regulations. These new measures were created in response to Russia’s ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine, which constitutes a grave breach of international peace and security.
Today’s announcement marks the first time Canada is sanctioning Russian collaborators in Moldova under the new regulations, following a commitment made by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during the visit of Moldovan President Maia Sandu to Canada in May 2023. These targeted sanctions will serve to undermine Russia’s ability to continue its unjustifiable invasion of Ukraine through Moldova, counter Russian destabilization efforts in the region and support the democratically elected Government of Moldova.
These sanctions target a number of individuals, including Moldovan oligarchs, business people, parliamentarians and politicians who are connected to Russia. They also target one entity, the Shor Party, a political party closely connected with Ilan Mironovich Shor, who is among the list of individuals being sanctioned today, and which has worked to destabilize Moldova’s democratically-elected government in favour of Russia.
As Russia threatens to leverage its presence on Moldovan territory to draw the country into the war of aggression against Ukraine, these new sanctions will undermine Russia’s efforts to restrain Moldova’s national government from exercising full sovereignty over its territory.
With these new sanctions, Canada reaffirms its commitment to support Ukraine’s efforts to take back their territory and put an end to the Kremlin’s war of choice.
“Canada will continue to work with its international partners to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia’s illegal and unjustifiable attacks of their sovereignty and to protect their citizens from the oppressive Russian regime. We will always stand strong with the people of Ukraine and Moldova.’’ – Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs