Dark clouds of authoritarianism and war are forming over the Republic of Moldova, but they can still be cleared away if patriotic forces will take the reins. This is the image painted by the narratives that crayoned a new week in the campaign for the early parliamentary election in the Republic of Moldova. The narratives are stemming from disinformation and fake news postulated by both Chișinău and Russia, the latter trying to endorse its clients in the Electoral Bloc of Communists and Socialists, at least in the media, since its numerous promises of assistance – whether we’re talking about money, fuel, medical equipment or vaccines – never came through. In exchange for this endorsement, left-wing representatives have decreed Moldova is a part of the Russian world, a reference to a history that remains all but in the imaginary realm and where, for centuries, Moldovans and Russians have been fighting off foreign invaders side by side as defenders of the Orthodox faith. Modern history too got a face lift, as this week we’ve learned Russia was and continue to be a pillar of stability in Transnistria, where it’s been struggling to prevent bloodshed, instead of being an active participant in the conflict, fighting against Moldova, and a power that illegally maintains forces in the region, despite Moldova’s repeated pleas that Russia should withdraw its troops for years.
The same Transnistria is now being used to spread fear in the election campaign, telling voters that if Maia Sandu manages to consolidate her grip on the power – with a victory from her political allies in the election – the situation in the breakaway region, which is allegedly facing a blockade, will deteriorate. And it’s not the only threat looming over Moldova: the population might witness a wave of political arrests, disguised as efforts to combat corruption. The West is on the verge of dragging the country into its campaign against Russia, while Romania is very close to actually annexing Moldova.
The themes of these narratives are not random: they all revolve around the objectives and fears of left-wing parties. For Transnistria, the real stake are the votes, people on the left bank of the Dniester being brought “by bus” to cast their votes for the Socialists and the Communists, thus counterbalancing the pro-Western vote in the Diaspora. Fears have to do with anything and everything that can be associated with right-wing parties and might give them a boost. The fight against corruption is the biggest promise of pro-European parties and the biggest expectation of their electorate (and others) in a country where graft has expanded to the administration, the judiciary, the political class and the business sector dominated by criminal billionaires. The West remains the model Moldova aspires to, and it’s willing to trade its assistance only if Moldova brings down corruption networks currently stifling the country’s opportunities. Romania, the traditional target of Russo-Moldovan propaganda, has now scored more points to its reputation due to its assistance to Moldova during the pandemic, and the good relations right-wing parties have with Bucharest might this time earn them additional votes in the elections.
DISINFORMATION: Political forces supporting Maia Sandu are fortifying the blockade on Transnistria (Cornel Ciobanu)
Transnistria is currently under a blockade imposed by the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, behind which are the political allies of president Maia Sandu. The narratives about the worsening situation in Transnistria are not uncommon, and some of them actually caution against a possible conflict in the region. But this time, the Russian State Duma is behind the disinformation.
FAKE NEWS : The fight against corruption, a pretext to turn Moldova against Russia (Cătălin Gomboș)
Under the pretext of supporting the fight against corruption, the West wants to impose in the Republic of Moldova a political class ready to turn the country against Russia.
FAKE NEWS: Western enemies have access to classified information and are influencing politics in Chișinău (Mădălin Necșuțu)
Former officers with the so-called “power structures” in the Republic of Moldova have intervened in the election campaign to express concern with the developments at home, but also to warn that foreign powers have access to external information. The narratives are part of the anti-Western rhetoric employed by pro-Russian political parties in Chișinău in the election campaign.
DISINFORMATION: Moldova is part of the Russian world, and Moscow shielded it from war (Mariana Vasilache)
The Republic of Moldova is part of the Russian world and shares a history with Russia spanning hundreds of years. Today, Russia is Moldova’s top strategic partner, and the country that has ensured its security for the last 30 years, helping it prevent a war. Ria Novosti has picked up on the narratives from a message sent by former president, Igor Dodon, with the aim of highlighting his personal relation with the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, ahead of the early parliamentary election scheduled to take place on July 11, 2021 in the Republic of Moldova.
DISINFORMATION: Romania controls the Republic of Moldova and is about to annex it (Cornel Ciobanu)
Romania is one step away from annexing the Republic of Moldova: it controls its foreign trade, it grants Romanian citizenship to Moldovans, and Maia Sandu is ready to reenact the unification, with Parliament’s help. This latest narrative surfaced in Russia and has been picked up by Moldovan media as well. The author of the disinformation claims Moscow should intervene to prevent the Republic of Moldova from being “swallowed”.
Parliamentary elections in the Republic of Moldova: Transnistrian voters against the Diaspora (Mariana Vasilache)
The electoral battle in the Republic of Moldova between the pro-European and the pro-Russian parties is also reflected in the way polling stations are organized. The PSRM-PCRM bloc is counting on the votes of Transnistrian population, while PAS hopes to win the votes of those who went to work in Europe, the diaspora. The electoral authority has also been involved in this fight, trying to reduce diaspora’s ability to vote.
Outlooks on political cooperation with Moldova – the illusion that we could buy Moscow’s assets in Chişinău (Sorin Ioniță)
Politicians in Chisinau are trying to get some extra political capital at home by flaunting their connections to politicians in Romania. However, a few protocol statements and "family" photos do not guarantee Bucharest’s influence in Moldova.
Electoral programs before the elections in Moldova: between promises and populism (Mădălin Necșuțu)
Early parliamentary elections will be held in Moldova on July 11. The list of candidates is long, with no less than 19 parties and electoral blocs officially registered to take part in the race for 101 parliament seats. Of these, no more than six have a real chance of crossing the electoral thresholds of 5% for parties or 7% for electoral blocs consisting of two or more parties. Veridica carried out a brief x-ray of the electoral programs proposed by the main competitors.
Demagog 2021 is the Veridica project for monitoring the election campaign for the early legislative elections in the Republic of Moldova. The Chisinau Bulletin is a weekly synthesis of the main fake news, disinformation and narratives used in the campaign, but also of the editorials and analyzes written by our team.
Disinformation uses a variety of manipulation tactics. Disinformation stories can easily be created by combining provocative topics.
Report
Not even the most optimistic supporters of the Action and Solidarity Party (PAS) were expecting a landslide victory in the early parliamentary election. PAS didn’t just face left-wing parties, represented by the Electoral Bloc of Communists and Socialists, but Russia itself, which tried to lend the latter a helping hand. Yet its victory is only the beginning: the real challenge for PAS lies ahead.
FAKE NEWS: The right-wing bought votes in the Diaspora
The alleged election fraud, including bribe-giving, was one of the hot topics in the Republic of Moldova on election day. While media outlets siding with pro-European parties revealed alleged cases of bribe reported on the left bank of the Dniester, the pro-Socialist press focused on offenses reported abroad. One the main “arguments” about influencing voters in the Diaspora was a short video filmed by a young girl queuing outside a polling station in Frankfurt, Germany. In the background one can hear a few people talking and laughing, mentioning 50 Euro. A large number of press institutions affiliated to the Socialists carried the piece of news, suggesting the video is evidence that voters got bribed. The person who shot the video subsequently said it was all a joke, and that the media made erroneous assumptions.
DEMAGOG 2021. The Chisinau Report, No. 5: Radio Yerevan
disinformation, manipulative stories and fake news continued to flood the media as usual. Maia Sandu, PAS and the West were again the favorite targets of disinformation and fake narratives. Fake news authors were pretty much unimaginative, as they have been over the course of the entire campaign, resorting to narratives they used before, both in the current campaign, as well as in previous ones: a victory for the right-wing would spell disaster for the country
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