George Scutaru, CEO of the New Strategy Center, participated on Tuesday, September 17, at the panel entitled “The Russian (hybrid) attack on the Black Sea Region and its consequences for Europe”, organized by Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, on the occasion of the visit of KAS directors from Europe and North America to Chisinau.

In his speech, George Scutaru emphasized the major security challenges facing the Black Sea region in the context of Russian aggression in Ukraine and presented possible scenarios for developments on the front. He drew attention to the significant risks that Russia’s actions pose to freedom of navigation in the Black Sea, to grain exports essential for global food security and to energy projects in the region, which can make a decisive contribution to the energy independence of the states in the region.

At the same time, George Scutaru pointed out that while Russia is conducting a large-scale kinetic war in Ukraine, it is conducting a large-scale hybrid war in the Republic of Moldova, with the aim of destabilizing the country and disengaging it from its European path. These hybrid actions emphasizing the use of criminal structures, energy pressures, the use of Russian-speaking minorities being manipulated against the legitimate government in Chisinau, pose a direct threat to regional stability and require increased attention from the international community to support the Republic of Moldova.

The panel was moderated by Katja Plate, Director, KAS Romania, and the other speakers were: Valeriu Mija, Secretary of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Moldova, Vladislav Kulminski, former Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration, Republic of Moldova and Mitat Celikpala, Professor, Kadir Has University, Turkey.