紐時賞析／「不要歐盟」莫斯科勢力阻饒歐俄間小國摩爾多瓦

支持摩爾多瓦加入歐盟的人士在首都基希納烏髮放傳單，敦促民衆參與公投。（紐約時報）

Moscow Roils a Country on the Edge of Europe and Russia

莫斯科勢力 攪和歐俄間小國摩爾多瓦

Moldova’s police chief, appointed by a government committed to joining the European Union and leaving Russia’s orbit, was alarmed to find his country’s capital suddenly plastered with posters bearing a blunt message: “No EU.”

摩爾多瓦警察首長震驚地發現，自己國家首都突然貼滿海報，寫着一個直截了當的訊息：「不要歐盟」。此人由一個致力加入歐盟與脫離俄羅斯勢力的政府任命。

The posters — written in Russian and Romanian, Moldova’s main language — appeared overnight on bus stops across Chisinau last month, ostensibly part of an advertising campaign for a concert by a popular Russian-speaking singer from Ukraine.

這些海報以俄文和摩爾多瓦主要語言羅馬尼亞文寫成，上個月似乎一夜之間出現在基希納烏各地的公車站，表面上是一個說俄語的烏克蘭流行歌手演唱會宣傳活動一部分。

The timing, however, set off alarm bells: the anti-EU message came just as Moldova, a former Soviet republic, was gearing up for a contentious referendum on whether to amend its constitution to enshrine the “irreversibility” of its “European course.”

然而，時機引起警覺：反歐盟訊息出現，正逢前蘇聯加盟共和國摩爾多瓦準備舉行一場有爭議的公投，題目是是否修改憲法，載入歐洲進程的「不可逆轉性」。

The posters had nothing to do with the singer, the police chief Viorel Cernauteanu said, but were part of a “big psychological operation” directed by Russia to derail the referendum, which was held at the same time as a presidential election (Oct.20).

警察首長塞爾納烏泰努說，這些海報跟該歌手無關，而是俄羅斯主導的「大型心理作戰」一部分，要阻撓跟總統選舉同時舉行的公投。

Cernauteanu said he believed the operation was the work of Ilan Shor, a fugitive Moldovan oligarch sheltering in Moscow, citing evidence, which he did not share, that the people who commissioned the posters were linked to the tycoon.

塞爾納烏泰努說，他相信這場行動是藏身莫斯科的摩爾多瓦逃亡寡頭蕭爾安排，稱委託製作海報的人跟這名大亨有關聯。

Shor, who has been sentenced in Moldova to 15 years in jail in connection with the theft of hundreds of millions of dollars from the country’s banking system, has for years worked to promote Russia and stoke hostility to the West, but this effort, officials say, has reached a new intensity in recent months.

蕭爾在摩爾多瓦被判處入獄15年，因涉嫌從該國銀行系統盜取數億美元。他多年來一直致力宣傳俄羅斯，並煽動敵視西方，但官員說，這項行動近幾個月達到新的強度。

Sunday’s vote on changing the constitution represents the culmination of a decades-long tug of war over Moldova’s direction between East and West. Each side has invested heavily in swaying the outcome. While the European Union has done this openly through support for Moldova’s economy and its government, Russia has sought to keep the country within its orbit through furtive funding for anti-government activities and what officials and international technology giants describe as a broad campaign of disinformation against the EU.

週日的修憲投票，代表摩爾多瓦在東西方之間數十年來走向拉鋸戰的高潮。兩邊都投入重金想影響結果。歐盟已公開支援摩爾多瓦經濟與政府，俄羅斯則秘密爲反政府活動提供資金，加上官員和國際科技巨擘稱之爲針對歐盟的廣泛假訊息活動，試圖讓該國保持在自己的勢力範圍內。

The posters against the bloc that appeared in Chisinau were quickly removed, as campaigning for the referendum is restricted to organizations registered with the election commission.

出現在基希納烏的反歐盟海報很快被撕下，因爲僅限跟選舉委員會登記的組織才能進行公投宣傳。

文／Andrew Higgins and Steven Lee Myers　譯／周辰陽