Europe on track for new dictatorship after opposition leader assassinated

Transnistria , the unrecognised breakaway state in Moldova , could be heading for dictatorial rule after opposition leader Oleg Khorzhan was killed, Express.co.uk has been told. Mr Khorzhan was the leader of the Pridnestrovie Communist Party (PCP), the region’s only prominent opposition politician, and had for years rallied against the ruling Obnovlenie, Republican Party. He was found dead by his wife in his own office on the night of July 16, 2023, having apparently been murdered, the cause of death reported to be multiple stab wounds. Unverified reports also claimed he had been shot. A number of questions now linger over the death and how it happened and, if murder is the case, who exactly carried it out. Keith Harrington, an academic who has worked in Moldova and travelled extensively throughout the country, believes that the death could signal a descent into dictatorship if it was carried out, as many believe, by the ruling regime’s henchmen. Oleg Khorzhan pictured in his last video posted to YouTube; he was found dead on July 16 (Image: Youtube) He said he was “surprised” by the death given that Transnistrian President Vadim Krasnoselsky has since 2016 “done a good job in trying to maintain stability” in an otherwise turbulent region. The way in which Transnistria has largely avoided major confrontation and conflict, Mr Harrington said, is why he is finding it hard to buy the idea that Mr Khorzhan’s death was “home invasion style”. “It almost feels too out of character,” he said. “They’ve really done a good job of maintaining stability, and so I don’t think this will create instability in Transnistria. But we could see a tightening of the political system and a dictatorship coming.” For a long time, Transnistria had a better democratic record than neighbouring Moldova, which today has high hopes for EU membership. The region came close to having a dictator in the form of Igor Smirnov, who spent 20 years in power from 1991 to 2011, but he was eventually voted out in 2006 in fair elections. The city of Tiraspol, Transnistria’s elected capital (Image: GETTY) But now, Mr Harrington said a “turn in the internal politics” may be around the corner. If true, it could see a new dictatorship, alongside Belarus and Russia , in Europe. “The current president, he’s very popular, and he’s handled the way the place has dealt with the Ukraine war well,” Mr Harrington said. “But there are elections coming up in 2025, so maybe they’re just clearing the field well in advance – it may have looked a bit suspicious to kill Khorzhan six months before the elections.” In 2017, Mr Khorzhan organised a low-level protest against the Transnistrian government, which Mr Harrington was in the region to witness. Vadim Krasnoselsky has been president of Transnistria since 2016 (Image: GETTY) An attempt on Mr Khorzhan’s life was made after the protest, and he was later arrested. It is said that the only thing that stopped his death was the intervention of Moscow. Back then, Mr Khorzhan was calling for dialogue with the Moldovan authorities, seen as a radical move, and even met with the then-President of Moldova Igor Dodon. There are around 1,000 Russian troops stationed in Transnistria , the region maintaining close ties to Vladimir Putin , which makes Mr Khorzhan’s death even stranger given that he himself approved of and endorsed Transnistria’s ties to Russia . In this way, Mr Harrington hinted that the death may hint that Transnistria is becoming more “boisterous” and independent of Russia . “I think the region has realised that its relationship with Russia can go both ways,” he said. “They realised that even before the war, they have always got a little more out of the relationship: they’ve got the money, they’ve got the support. All Russia gets is control over a part of Moldova .” There is more at play, however. Mr Khorzhan repeatedly spoke out against Viktor Guscan, head of the Sheriff holding company, which controls all of Transnistria’s supermarkets, petrol stations, construction companies, hotels, a mobile phone network, bakeries, a distillery, a football team and a mini media empire of radio and TV stations. He is the sole oligarch of the region, growing fat off the people. Speculating, Mr Harrington said: “Everything’s owned by Sheriff and clearly they feel so comfortable that they could’ve just killed him.”