A fake video has been posted on Russian Telegram channels, featuring Euronews' graphics and claiming that corruption has pushed Moldova to become one of the biggest black markets for arms sales.
Euronews neither produced nor published this video. Our graphics and format were copied and used without our consent, and our teams are working to ensure the video is removed from all social platforms.
It appeared in a Telegram channel called the "Military Observer" in Russian and has amassed more than 16,000 views at the time of writing.
The video alleges that high levels of corruption in Moldova's armed forces mean that the country is now "the largest hub for the black market in weapons."
Arms traffickers allegedly use Moldova as a buffer zone for the illegal export of weapons from Ukraine and distribute them elsewhere in Europe and beyond, according to the false video.
It attributes a quote to Clara Staicu, Romania's secretary of state for European affairs, in which she supposedly calls Moldova "a perfect transit point for arms traffickers" due to its small size and widespread corruption.
It also alleges that the situation has worsened over the past four years, during the presidency of Maia Sandu, and that Interpol has previously reported that weapons smuggled through Moldova were used to commit terrorist attacks in France and Germany.
The video strongly resembles a Euronews report, but its contents are false.
It is unclear where any of the claims in the video supposedly come from and there appears to be no evidence for any of them.
When approached by EuroVerify, Romania's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said that it "categorically rejects the content" of the video, including the alleged statements by Staicu.
"The MFA strongly condemns the illegal use of the visual identity of Romanian officials in order to manipulate public opinion and undermine confidence in the democratic and European course of the Republic of Moldova," the ministry said. "Such unprecedented actions are part of a broader pattern of disinformation and manipulation campaigns aimed at generating fear and influencing public opinion."
It added that it fully supports Moldova's efforts in combating disinformation and maintaining the rule of law and an independent press, but noted that there has been a sustained campaign of foreign interference aimed at influencing public opinion in Romania and during its elections.
The Moldova video follows hot on the heels of another fake video that was attributed to Euronews and spread online last week, which alleged that Romania cautioned French authorities over interference in the Romanian presidential election runoff.
Romanian and French authorities, as well as Euronews, all denounced that video and its contents as false.
Euronews and other media outlets are routinely targeted by pro-Russian actors to spread disinformation narratives and weaken trust in the media, particularly around election time.
There have been repeated cases of false news reports bearing the visual identity of reputable news outlets to sow confusion and propaganda.
The Moldovan president's office and Interpol did not immediately respond to our requests for comment. We will update this article when we hear from them.
