The withdrawal by Lithuania of the License of the Russian television station Rain TV, brings to attention an older issue regarding the liberal Russian opposition: is it willing to abandon the imperialism at the core of the various autocrat Russian regimes? Lithuanian journalist Nikadem Szczygaowski writes that from the Tsarist era reformists to contestants of the Soviet system as Mihail Bulgakov to Putin opponents like Alexei Navalnîi, the support for the empire - described, euphemistically, as the "Russian world" - seems to remain the same.
When it came to power, the pro-European government promised to reform the judiciary and bring to justice the oligarchs who embezzled state funds and are now hiding abroad. Vladimir Plahotniuc, Ilan Shor and fugitives from “the London group” seem to continue to enjoy protection from the system they helped build and are supporting efforts to oust the current pro-European administration. On the other hand, the authorities also rely on the support of the country’s Western partners, who seem to have understood that oligarchs are pressing for closer relations with the Russian Federation.
Between December 26 and 27, 2022, the informal Summit of the leaders of the CIS states took place in the city of Sankt-Petersburg. The meeting should have shown that this Russian-dominated organization, which for years has been trying to present it as an alternative to the more attractive EU and NATO, is relevant and viable, that Moscow enjoys the support of its ex-Soviet partners even in the conditions of the war in Ukraine. Speeches about cooperation cannot mask the reality: the CIS is an outdated organization, in crisis, which has no serious long-term prospects.
The war still haunts the refugees, even though some left Ukraine months ago. The memory of Russian bombing is still alive for them. They speak all the time to their relatives back home, who give them regular updates on what’s happening. They keep thinking of going back home. A few tens of thousands out of the millions of Ukrainian war refugees chose to stay in the Republic of Moldova. Mariana Vasilache spoke to some of them at her childhood school, which is now their new home.
Efforts to combat climate change have had mixed results in 2022, which are best described by the saying “one step forward, two steps back"”. While governments are still slow in taking decisive action, the effects of climate change are already being felt. To diminish their impact and magnitude, there is an urgent need for the United States and China to agree in 2023 to combat them.
In recent years, Turkey has increasingly tried to project its power outside its borders, be it the Mediterranean Sea, with Cyprus and Libya as key pieces in Ankara's policy, sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, or the Caucasus. To achieve its goal, Ankara has relied on aggressive diplomacy, its defense industry and its military. This policy will continue in 2023 and its big stakes are Northern Cyprus and energy.
Millions of Ukrainians headed to Romania when Russia attacked their country. Instead of a land of poor and hostile bandits, as the propaganda had described it, they found the help and shelter they needed - even if there were also marginal voices spreading, as everywhere in Europe, disinformation about refugees. Some of them stayed, others moved on. Veridica has the stories of some of them, from the first days of the war until now.
The meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers held in Bucharest over November 29-30 was not overlooked by Russian officials, nor propaganda media. Moscow interpreted the event in its own, different key, without however introducing new elements in terms of rhetoric. The allegations brought to the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance are the same: NATO has reached beyond the purposes it was originally designed for, it is promoting an all-out war against Russia while using the territory of other states, it is supplying Kyiv with weapons, prolonging the war indefinitely.
The political parties in Romania have not been able to outline a program or a strategy to do politics in the Republic of Moldova, but they are interested in the votes they could get from there, as, according to estimates, some one million Moldovan citizens are also Romanian citizens in documents, and that makes a significant electoral pool. Four parliamentary parties from Bucharest are currently fighting for the votes of the Bessarabians: PSD (Social Democratic Party) PNL (National Liberal Party), USR (Save Romania Union) and AUR (Alliance for the Union of Romanians). Veridica wanted to find out how these parties are positioned before the 2023 local elections in the Republic of Moldova, but especially in the run-up to the 2024 parliamentary and presidential elections in Romania.
The World Cup in Qatar has been marred by controversy ever since the small Gulf emirate was named host of the tournament despite doubts about the country's human rights record. Many of the problems related to the Championship have, apparently, nothing to do with sports, but the big international competitions are not only about sports, they are always about politics as well.
Turkey has bombed Kurdish positions in Iraq and Syria in response to the bomb attack in Istanbul, warning this is just the beginning. A wider operation in Syria would help the Erdoğan regime draw attention away from the country’s economic troubles. Besides, it might also be a first step towards solving the refugee crisis. Russia, a country involved in the Syrian conflict, could turn a blind eye to Ankara’s moves because it is interested in exporting natural gas via pipelines transiting Turkey.
The war in Ukraine is not going well for Russia and the regime of Vladimir Putin, who threw his country into the affair. Although Putin forced all his people to say in February 2022 that Ukraine must be destroyed, the final decision was his and he will answer for it, alone or with others. And that’s why many Western and Russian analysts started wondering whether Putin's “reign” is coming to an end and who might succeed him.
While the Kremlin backs the criminal opposition in Chișinău, which is trying to destabilize the Republic of Moldova in order to take power and discard any criminal investigation against itself, Russian propaganda touts the protests staged by Shor Party, the anti-Western statements of the former Socialist party and criticizes the current head of state, Maia Sandu. Veridica has reviewed the main narratives advocated by the Russian government media with respect to the Republic of Moldova.
The Internet caught fire last week with the fake news that the world's billionaires, led by Elon Musk, would celebrate Halloween in Romania. From the joy of the traders along the entire Rucăr - Bran corridor, to the currency dealers’ hope for some lucrative combinations and culminating in the raging of a delicate senator filled with authentic, countryside orthodox sentiments, we all had our own expectations from, reactions to and opinions about the (pseudo)event.
Alex Jones, one of the best known American conspiracy theorists, was sentenced to pay nearly 1 billion USD after claiming for years the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting never actually took place and was actually staged. The sentence represents a landmark for combating the increasingly toxic phenomenon of fake news. The battle might have been won, but the war wages on.
Many Russians who have fled Putin’s partial mobilization have ended up in Georgia, and their presence in this country is creating demographic, economic, political and, obviously, social problems. Besides, Tbilisi authorities cannot be sure whether each of these migrants is a fugitive or if they are agents on Moscow’s payroll. All that is generating a national security predicament that must be managed in due time while the country is trying to maintain its European track, after failing to secure the EU candidate status this year.
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.
A genuine taboo of international relations, which responsible leaders always sought to avoid in times of crises, the nuclear “button” has become commonplace in Russian rhetoric in recent years. Drawing on his crude professional experience, which is based on operative textbooks and a number of heroic legends fabricated by Soviet propaganda, Putin is confident that restraint is but a sign of fear. Lacking in any sense of intellectual finesse, the Russian leader has managed to trivialize the nuclear threat, which proves he doesn’t always have a good understanding of the terms he uses.
Despite causing heavy criticism and dissatisfaction with their response to the Covid-19 pandemic, taxes, and other issues, Prime Minister of Latvia Krišjānis Kariņš, and his party “New Unity” will most likely form the new government following the parliamentary elections held on October the 1st. However, the elections did significantly alter the landscape of Latvian politics.
Pakistan has recently faced one of the biggest natural disasters in the country’s history. Tens of millions of people were affected by the far-reaching floods caused by the massive rainfall reported in this year’s monsoon season. Islamabad claims the intensity of this disaster is a result of climate change. This launches a new warning against the devastating effects of this phenomenon.
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 internal stability of the Republic of Moldova is threatened by pro-Russian politicians who are trying to stir the pot by capitalizing on the numerous crises facing this country. The most vocal of them are politicians who’ve had run-ins with the law, such as Ilan Shor, the mastermind behind the “billion-dollar theft”, as well as former Socialist leader Igor Dodon, indicted on five distinct charges. Aware of their schemes, Moscow uses energy exports as blackmail.
The relationship between Turkey and Greece is once again marked by tension, and Ankara's tough statements have made some observers wonder if this time there will be military confrontations. However, the current crisis seems to be related to the efforts made by the regime in Ankara to divert attention from domestic problems rather than to the old rivalry between the two countries.
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.
The Republic of Moldova could face a number of serious challenges this autumn, given that Russia wants to bring this country back into its orbit. At domestic level, Moscow is expected to use any leverage it has in the separatist region of Transnistria and in Găgăuzia. Adding to these pressure points will be the country’s energy concerns.
Most Ukrainians believe their country will win the war against Russia, reads a recent survey carried out by the International Republican Institute. The study also reveals that Ukrainians continue to argue in favor of Euro-Atlantic integration, although their perception of NATO reported fluctuations due to delays or readiness to provide military assistance, and they remain critical of their elected officials, despite the war.
Găgăuzia is perhaps the most pro-Russian region in the Republic of Moldova. A breakaway region since the early 90s, Găgăuzia eventually recognized Chișinău’s sovereignty, although it wants to break with this country in the event of a unification with Romania or even EU accession.
Uncertainty linked to the official language of the Republic of Moldova, 31 years after this country proclaimed its independence, reflects just how hard defining and accepting a national identity has been. The country’s inability to settle linguistic disputes and break away from “Moldovenism”, a Soviet construct, is one of Chișinău’s many failures: after 31 years of independence, the country is still unable to fully control its territory and to ensure its energy and military security.
Europe is facing the most severe drought in the last 500 years, but it is not the only continent affected by this phenomenon. The global scale of drought is yet another consequence of climate change. Water – the element that is vital for survival and key to industry and agriculture – has become increasingly disputed globally, its shortage producing economic, humanitarian and security crises.
The European track of the Republic of Moldova involves a break with its recent past, when the country was virtually at the mercy of highly influential oligarchs, who used their political leverage and media influence to create a genuine kleptocracy. One solution would be to apply the model employed by Ukraine, a country that passed a anti-oligarchic law.
In recent years, Ukraine has taken a series of measures to secure its information space, affected both by Russian manipulation and disinformation campaigns, and by the influence of some oligarchs pursuing their own interests. The measures include a law aimed at taking the media away from the control of oligarchs. The effect has been more state control over the media, and the question arises whether it is a temporary situation, justified by the war, or a regression of Ukrainian democracy.
Ayman al-Zawahiri was the ideologue of the Al-Qaida network, whose leadership he took over after the killing of Osama bin Laden. Al-Zawahiri was one of the most prominent terrorist leaders killed in the past two decades, but his death is unlikely to have a significant impact the jihadist movement.
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