Moldova holds a high-stakes parliamentary election on 28 September that could determine the fate of its bid to join the European Union, amidst what officials have described as a subversive Russian campaign to sway the vote and sabotage the effort.
The country of 2.4 million people has faced multiple crises since Russia's 2022 invasion of neighbouring Ukraine that have tested the pro-European government, which sees membership of the 27-member bloc as critical to breaking free from Moscow's orbit.
Recent polls suggest the ruling pro-European Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) could struggle to keep its majority and may need to form a coalition in the 101-seat legislature.
Opposition forces such as the pro-Russian Patriotic Bloc and the nominally pro-European Alternative alliance are courting voters bothered by high prices, slow reforms and scepticism over closer ties with Europe.
“Yes, I will go to vote because it's necessary," said 40-year-old teacher Ana Stirbu, reflecting the mindset of many pro-European voters.
"This is about the future of our country, the future of our youth. We must decide the fate of our country, and I will choose the European path, because we have noticed changes since Maia Sandu came to power,” she added.
Moscow denies meddling, but disinformation continues.
“Russian propaganda has specific messages for specific categories of the population...” said Eugen Muravschi, researcher at WatchDog.MD.
Coalition could hinder European integration
Any coalition would likely complicate President Maia Sandu's push for EU by 2030. A 2024 referendum on EU membership only just cleared a 50% majority.
"If we have a coalition, you can forget swift European integration given the options for ... partners," said a former senior official, speaking anonymously to give a frank assessment.
Brussels has vocally backed Sandu and considers a pro-European Moldova, which applied for EU membership in 2022 alongside Ukraine, key to snuffing out Russian influence on its eastern flank.
In August, the leaders of France, Germany and Poland visited Chisinau to underline their support for the government's EU bid.
Sandu: 'European future in danger'"
Moldova has a Romanian-speaking majority and a large Russian-speaking minority, and political power has alternated for decades between pro-Russian and pro-European groups. Russian troops are stationed in a separatist region that broke from Chisinau's control in a brief war in the early 1990s.
Sandu has described the vote as Moldova's most consequential election ever. Addressing the nation on Monday, she said Russia was spending hundreds of millions of euros to sway the vote and recruiting hundreds of people to stir disorder.
"Today, with utmost seriousness, I tell you - our sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity, and European future are in danger," she said.
Moldovan police have stepped up searches in recent weeks into illegal party financing. On Monday, security forces arrested 74 people in sweeping raids over alleged Russian-backed efforts to stoke unrest. Officials said Russian intelligence was training Moldovan citizens in Serbia on protest tactics.
Patriotic Bloc co-leader Igor Dodon, a former president, said some members of his alliance were targeted.
"The criminal PAS regime is trying to intimidate us, frighten the people, and silence us," Dodon said in a statement.
Last month, it's reported that fugitive tycoon Ilan Shor, sanctioned by the United States and EU as an alleged Russian agent, openly offered Moldovans monthly payments of $3,000 to join anti-government protests.
Domestic woes
Voters will head into the election after years of economic malaise - largely from the war in Ukraine and an energy crunch sparked by Russian cuts to critical gas supplies.
Many voters remain focused on high inflation and slow progress on anti-corruption reforms.
Moldova, one of Europe's poorest countries, relies on expensive Romanian energy imports, with inflation still around 7%, leaving many voters frustrated.
"People don't see, in their daily lives, the benefits of EU accession," said Anastasia Pociumban of the German Council on Foreign Relations.
Meanwhile, corruption remains persistent and reforms in key areas such as the justice system have moved slowly.
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U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned Moscow on Wednesday that the United States and its allies would "impose costs on Russia for its continued aggression" if the war in Ukraine does not come to an end.
Kenya's veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga, who was imprisoned multiple times while fighting one-party autocracy and ran five times unsuccessfully for president, died aged 80 on Wednesday in India.
Video from the USGS (United States Geological Survey) showed on Friday (19 September) the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii erupting and spewing lava.
At least 69 people have died and almost 150 injured following a powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Cebu City in the central Visayas region of the Philippines, officials said, making it one of the country’s deadliest disasters this year.
Authorities in California have identified the dismembered body discovered in a Tesla registered to singer D4vd as 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who had been missing from Lake Elsinore since April 2024.
A tsunami threat was issued in Chile after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck the Drake Passage on Friday. The epicenter was located 135 miles south of Puerto Williams on the north coast of Navarino Island.
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U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned Moscow on Wednesday that the United States and its allies would "impose costs on Russia for its continued aggression" if the war in Ukraine does not come to an end.
Kenya's veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga, who was imprisoned multiple times while fighting one-party autocracy and ran five times unsuccessfully for president, died aged 80 on Wednesday in India.
Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban administration have agreed to a temporary ceasefire for 48 hours starting 6:00 p.m. Pakistan local time (1300 GMT) on Wednesday, Islamabad said, after fresh clashes erupted between the neighbours.
Trade tensions between the United States and China are once again flaring up, as President Donald Trump has signalled that he may consider ending certain trade relations with Beijing.
The insolvency-related fraud trial of fallen Austrian property tycoon Rene Benko entered its second day on Wednesday, with a ruling expected in the afternoon in the first case connected to the collapse of his Signa property empire.
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