Fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor, who is in Russia, published photographs with Romanian Member of the European Parliament Diana Shoshoaca at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). In a commentary to the photos, Shore called Shoshoake “the future president of a free Romania.”
“With Diana Soshoaca, the future president of free Romania,” Shor wrote online under photographs of them hugging on the forum.
Shoshoke said that she was participating “in one of the most important international economic forums in the world, in which more than 30 thousand people take part. Here they don’t talk about the future, here the future is being built before our eyes.”
Shoshoake said she participated in the forum at the invitation of the Russian presidential administration in the context of tensions caused by the incident with a Russian drone that fell on an apartment building in Galati. The MEP described her presence in St. Petersburg as “an outstretched hand in defense of peace and dialogue.”
“You don’t have to be either a Russophile or a Russophobe. You need to be Romanian. It must be understood that foreign policy is not carried out in the interests of other states or because of political pride, but to protect the interests of the Romanian people. You need to communicate with your neighbors. You don’t have to like them or agree with them. But you have to keep the dialogue going. History shows us too often that when dialogue stops, conflict begins. (…) I came here because Romania should be present where the future of the world is discussed. We cannot skip major international debates and claim to be defending our national interests. While the current government in Bucharest has chosen the path of worsening diplomatic relations with Russia, I decided to come here to maintain an open channel of communication,” Shoshoake said.
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The SPIEF was also attended by the former vice-chairman of the Shor party, which was declared unconstitutional, Marina Tauber, sentenced to 7.5 years in prison and on the international wanted list, PSRM leader Igor Dodon, former Prime Minister Vasile Tarlev, unaccredited Russian Ambassador to Moldova Oleg Ozerov and leader of the Moldova Mare party Victoria Furtuna. Dodon called on the forum to abandon anti-Russian sanctions and resume negotiations with Gazprom and resume direct flights to Moscow.
Ilan Shor fled Moldova in the summer of 2019, first settling in Israel, and since February 2024 he has been in Russia. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison in a “bank fraud” case. Shor is on the US, UK, Canada and EU sanctions lists for connections with the Kremlin and attempts to destabilize Moldova.
Let us remind you that on the night of May 29, a combat drone fell on the roof of a residential high-rise building in the Romanian city of Galati and exploded. As a result of the fire that broke out on the upper floors of the house, two people were injured – a mother and a child. Both were taken to the hospital with burns. In the morning, the country’s Ministry of Defense said that, according to preliminary information, it was a Russian Geran-2 drone.
Romanian President Nicusor Dan said that the drone that fell in the city of Galati was a Russian Geranium-2 drone. According to him, experts came to this conclusion after completing a technical examination.
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