Republic of Moldova

Moldovan Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Spinu on Sunday evening urged voters not to give in to electoral bribery schemes set up by “thieves, fugitives and bandits” after the oligarch Ilan Shor promised to pay people who convince others to cast ‘no’ votes in the upcoming referendum on European integration.

In the wake of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, Eastern countries have been increasingly exposed to FIMI tactics. We [EUISS] explore how the EU’s enlargement policy has been targeted by FIMI operations, and argue that the EUPM Moldova mission could serve as a blueprint for a renewed EU approach to CSDP.

Court upholds Central Electoral Commission's decision to reject pro-Russian Ilan Shor party's application to take part in the campaign for Moldova's looming EU membership referendum.

Pro-European President Maia Sandu staged a city centre rally on Friday (20 September) to kick off her bid for re-election in a month-long campaign held alongside a referendum to cement her drive to join the European Union. … Recent polls put Sandu comfortably in front with about 27% support, with [candidates] Usatii and Stoianolgo both on about 11.5%. Surveys show about 48% willing to vote for the constitutional amendments to enable the country to join the EU, with 37% opposed.

Members of local political party branches in Moldova linked to fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor are accused of receiving funds from undeclared sources to take part in protests linked to the country’s presidential elections due in October.

Lawmakers in Moldova’s separatist region of Tiraspol passed a law on Wednesday banning the use of the term ‘Transnistria’, equating it with terms such as ‘fascism’ and ‘Nazism’, with the region’s de facto leader, Vadim Krasnoselski, saying he prefers the Russian term ‘Pridnestrovie’.

Fugitive Moldovan oligarchs Ilan Shor and Veaceslav Platon have spent around €136,000 on Facebook campaigns in the last three months to spread panic, discredit Moldova’s EU integration process and boost Russia’s image, WatchDog.MD experts have found. … In 2017, Shor was convicted of fraud for stealing $1 billion from three Moldovan banks in 2014.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told Moldovan President Maia Sandu and Prime Minister Dorin Recean in a meeting in Chisinsau on August 21 that Berlin will remain the biggest European supporter of Ukraine. 

Moldovan officials are worried that Russia may try manipulating divisions between the capital and two dissident regions ahead of October polls. These fissures have widened as Chisinau draws closer to the West. To reduce frictions, the government should reach out anew to the regional authorities.

Russian disinformation threatens to interfere with Moldovan elections later this year just as the country begins to make significant progress on reforms under pro-Western President Maia Sandu, U.S. and Moldovan officials said at separate events in Washington on July 23.