The separatist discourse has reemerged in Gagauzia, part of an effort to block Moldova's European path. The moment coincides with the winning of the elections by one of Ilan Shor’s representatives.
Chișinău is strengthening its army in the context of Russia’s hybrid war against the Republic of Moldova, the Moldovan Defense Minister said. In an interview to Veridica, Anatolie Nosatîi also referred to military cooperation with the EU, NATO and Romania.
The EPC summit brought, for the first time, the prospect of European integration without the settlement of the Transnistrian conflict. Moscow was also sent the message that Moldova's place was next to the Western democracies.
După ce respectatul ministru leton de externe Edgars Rinkēvičs, a fost ales președinte, zilele coaliției pro-europene de guvernare ar putea fi numărate.
The EPC summit in Bulboaca was meant to create an anti-Russian coalition, Russian propaganda writes, describing standard security measures as signs of a dictatorship.
While Georgia hopes to be granted EU-candidate status, its government seems unwilling to reform the judiciary, as demanded by both Brussels and the US.
The EU civilian mission in Chisinau aims to push the Republic of Moldova towards a confrontation with Moscow, says the Russian MFA. In fact, the aim is to strengthen Moldova's resilience to security threats.
According to a false narrative carried by the Russian media, the decision to denounce the agreement on the participation in the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly was imposed by the West.
Maia Sandu has called a pro-European rally, patterned on the Great National Assemblies that culminated in 1991 with the Republic of Moldova proclaiming its independence. The decision was announced in the context where Moscow and pro-Russian forces in Chișinău have ramped up pressure on the pro-European government. It’s a risky bet, which Moldova will win only if the rally enjoys a turnout similar to public gatherings of the 1990s.
Like many other topics linked to Ukraine, the grain crisis was also used to discredit Kyiv and undermine international assistance to this country. Certain aspects about this story have been exaggerated or taken out of context, while quite a few false narratives have also surfaced in the region. Veridica has examined 12 burning questions about the Ukrainian grain crisis.
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Chișinău’s close relations with the EU and the pro-European governments have had a negative impact on the economy of the Republic of Moldova, the Russian propaganda writes, referring to the price hikes, soaring poverty and unemployment. In fact, while the Republic of Moldova remains one of the poorest European nations, the economy and living standards have gone up in the last decade.
The Republic of Moldova can accede to the EU only if it joins NATO first and adopts an anti-Russian policy, according to a false narrative carried by the Russian media. In fact, the terms a state must comply with before it can join the EU have nothing to do with NATO, evidence of which is the fact that some members of NATO have been denied EU accession.
Estonia gave Ukraine old weapons, paid for with European money, but charged Brussels for new ones, according to European sources quoted by Politico. Many in Estonia’s political establishment categorically rejected the allegations, but some admitted there is some truth in them, explaining that the scandal has to do both with Tallinn’s self-righteousness towards its partners when it comes to helping Ukraine, and its desire to better arm itself.
Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream was recently forced to drop a Russian-inspired bill. The party seems determined to return to this project, which may compromise Georgia's European path, but is promoted by Russian propaganda. The problem for the Georgian Dream - and for Moscow - is that most of the population opts for Euro-Atlantic integration.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban finds himself in a complicated situation. Politically, he gets increasingly isolated from its Western partners. Hungary's economy is in crisis, and the European funds that could relaunch it have been blocked due to anti-democratic slippages. With all the friendship that Budapest has shown to Russia, there isn’t much Russia can do to help, being itself increasingly affected by Western sanctions. Orban's solution appears to be to block Finland and Sweden's entry into NATO until the EU unlocks funds for Hungary. However, this blackmail policy may have reached its limits.
Formally, Tbilisi maintains its course towards integration into Euro-Atlantic structures, but the movement towards the West has been on inertia lately, while Moscow's influence is only growing. The ruling party, founded by oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, increasingly links national interests with his personal interests, be it political or business related. At a decisive moment for Georgia's future, such a policy may prove fatal.
Poland positioned itself as one of Ukraine’s main supporters: it allowed its territory to be used for arms deliveries while becoming a major arms supplier in its own right and convinced its NATO allies to support Ukraine even more. In parallel, Warsaw is engaged in a process of strengthening its own army. All this shows that Poland is turning into a key actor for the European security, an actor that is, however, increasingly exposed to the theses of Russian propaganda.
The EU sent troops, trainers and spies to Ukraine long before the 2022 war, according to a Russian state media propaganda narrative citing the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova. In fact, the EU has not sent any troops and is not taking part in the military actions underway on the territory of Ukraine.
Europe’s embargo prevents the delivery of assistance to Syria, a country also devastated by the earthquake, and out of subservience to its Western masters, Romania too has refused to help the troubled Syrian people, according to a piece of disinformation promoted by on online publication that also spread false narratives over the years, many of which are specific to Russian propaganda. The disinformation was promoted by former Foreign Minister Adrian Severin, an ex-criminal convict with a strong pro-Moscow rhetoric. In fact, both the EU and Romania have provided help to Syria.
Over the past year, the health of the former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, who is serving a six-year prison sentence, has been a major topic of political debate both inside and outside of Georgia. The opposition and Saakashvili's lawyers say he should be transferred to a European clinic to be treated for mental illness, personality deterioration and severe depression. The government claims that the former president is faking it. Finally, signals are coming from Brussels that if Mikheil Saakashvili dies in detention, Georgia's European future could be jeopardized.
The European Union has greenlighted the annexation of the Republic of Moldova by Romania, and the puppet government in Chisinau accepts this, according to fake news that repeats one of the narratives promoted by Russian propaganda and pro-Moscow voices in the Republic of Moldova. In reality, Brussels has never spoken in favor of unification, considering the Republic of Moldova an independent state, to which it offered the EU accession candidate status.
“The accession of the Republic of Moldova to the EU, conditional on the legalization of LGBT marriages”, headlined national.ro, the topic being immediately taken up by pro-Kremlin news sites in the Republic of Moldova and Russia. In fact, it is not an obligation, but a recommendation from May of the European Parliament regarding the rights of the LGBT community. Moreover, the Republic of Moldova later obtained the status of candidate country without having to legalize marriages between people of the same sex.
Rusia a avut mereu oamenii săi printre reprezentanții clasei politice și administrației de la Chișinău. Unii nici nu au încercat să-și ascundă relația cu Moscova, alții par să-și fi jucat foarte bine rolul, plasându-se în fruntea unor mișcări naționale și proeuropene, ceea ce, probabil, i-a permis Rusiei să controleze anumite procese politice din interior. Veridica îi amintește, în acest al doilea episod, pe cei care au menținut Republica Moldova în siajul Moscovei pentru o bună parte din ultimele două decenii.
As pro-Europeans in Sofia are confident that Bulgaria will switch to the Euro in 2024 pro-Russian parties claim the adoption of the EU single currency will only bring economic instability. Debates and heated exchanges on this topic might become part of the political landscape in the next two years. Disinformation is bound to be part of the picture.
Syria remains a country ravaged by conflict and a deep humanitarian crisis, a place of conflicting interests of multiple state and non-state actors, says the Chargé d'Affaires of the European Union to Syria, Dan Stoenescu*. In an interview for TVR and Veridica, Dan Stoenescu explained that, although it doesn’t recognize the Assad regime, the EU keeps communication channels open in order to provide assistance to the Syrian people. The EU official also spoke about the link between the war in Syria and the one in Ukraine.
In the first half of 2022, Turkey seemed to be trying to tone down its aggressive policies in the Middle East and the Eastern Mediterranean. Yet all these efforts were but a ruse. In fact, Ankara never renounced key elements underlying its aggressive strategy. It has recently actually dialed up its aggression in relations with Tripoli, which can further deteriorate the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East.
French President Emmanuel Macron's project for a “European Political Community” is back in the spotlight after months of not much talk about it. It is known that the project also targets partner states outside the EU, but it is not at all clear what it means for the countries that want to join the EU; there are fears that, through the formation of the Community, accession could be postponed indefinitely, that the executive in Brussels will support the French proposal.
The population of Donbas, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson have a right to self-determination under the UN Charter, which makes the referendums in southern and eastern Ukraine legitimate, says Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov. In fact, Russia violated the UN Declaration on the Principles of International Law by invading Ukraine, and the international community will not recognize the referendums.
European Union Member States will abandon Ukraine ahead of the cold season lest Russia should suspend its gas deliveries and for fear of a nuclear threat coming from Moscow. To justify their decision, EU countries will play host to a number of protests with the help of the secret services.
The European Union has abandoned the Republic of Moldova, Romania has doubled its energy tariff, and the anti-Russian policy of the government in Chisinau has triggered deep crises, baltnews.com writes. In reality, the West is the biggest financial supporter of the Republic of Moldova, which is affected by the crisis just like the rest of the countries in the region.
Russia is not to blame for the global rise in energy prices, it is the fault of an increasingly greedy Europe that has created “energy bubbles”. This false narrative, promoted in an online publication in Romania, repeats Russian propaganda and ignores Moscow's actions that actually led to the current situation.
The Republic of Moldova has increasingly distanced itself from Russia since the pro-European forces came to power in Chisinau following the early parliamentary elections of July 2021. The new government has taken a series of measures to reduce Moscow's influence and the dependence on it and sought, at the same time, to get in line, as much as possible, with the Western stands.