Wizz Air suspends flights to European country that’s ‘Putin’s next target’

Budget airline Wizz Air has announced it will suspend all flights to Moldova from next month amid increasing security concerns that it has become Vladimir Putin’s next target of invasion.

“Due to recent developments and the high, though not imminent, risk in the country's airspace, Wizz Air has taken the difficult but responsible decision to suspend all its flights to Chisinau as of March 14”, the airline said in a statement on Monday February 27.

The Hungarian airline became the first to announce a suspension of flights to the country, which borders Ukraine on its north, east and south.

READ MORE: Drunk Russian soldier detonates grenade at house party after returning from Ukraine

Moldova’s infrastructure ministry said in a statement published on Telegram on the same day as Wizz Air’s statement that it regretted the airline’s “sudden” decision.

Wizz Air’s move comes two weeks after Moldovan president Maia Sandu publicly accused Russia of plotting to overthrow its government through violent actions disguised as anti-government protests.

The plan involved citizens of Russia, Montenegro, Belarus and Serbia entering Moldova to try to spark protests in an attempt to “change the legitimate government to an illegal government controlled by the Russian Federation”, she said.

The pro-EU country already has Russian troops inside their borders, who have the potential to cause significant problems for the country.

Transnistria, an internationally unrecognised breakaway region of Moldova, adopted a policy of supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine shortly after war broke out last year and has allowed Russian troops to be stationed in its borders.

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The statement from Moldova’s president came just weeks before Russia told western countries that it would view any actions that threatened Russian peacekeepers in Transnistria as a direct attack on Russia.

While Moldova, which has a population of around 2.6 million, has tried to avoid involvement in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, its proximity to the war has had significant consequences to its people.

The country has been hit by debris and arms from the invasion in Ukraine several times over the past year and has occasionally been forced to shut down its own airspace.

It has also suffered crippling energy blackouts after Ukraine stopped exporting electricity because of Russian airstrikes on critical infrastructure.

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