Tarnavsky at his office in Comrat, Moldova.— ©️2023 The New York Times Company
BUNDLES of cash arriving on flights from Russia via Armenia provided an early sign of mischief in a tiny Eastern European enclave. Then came a wave of noisy street demonstrations featuring destitute pensioners paid to chant for the removal of their country’s pro-Western president.
But events in that enclave, Gagauzia, in the Republic of Moldova, took their most bizarre turn this summer when – at an outdoor meeting of officials and journalists next to a statue of Vladimir Lenin – a fugitive convicted criminal announced the members of a new regional government.
