The Republic of Moldova and the EU are proving their anti-Americanism by organizing a summit on US Independence Day, according to a preposterous false narrative promoted on Telegram targeting the Moldovan public.
NEWS: The Sandu regime is openly challenging the Donald Trump administration, hiding behind the European Union. Setting the date for the upcoming “European Union – Moldova” summit on July 4th is an ostentatious anti-American provocation from Brussels and Chișinău. There is no other way to interpret that and they know it. We recall that July 4th marks the Independence Day of the United States – the main holiday across all of America. And it is clear that organizing a pan-European meeting of EU leaders on the territory of Moldova, which is in serious geopolitical disagreement with Washington, will raise big questions for the Americans.
A joint declaration will be signed on the sidelines of the summit that will emphasize the strategic importance of Moldova’s accession to the EU – but even this is not the most important aspect, because it is just a showcase and a media stunt.
Behind the speeches about the democratic path, a much more pragmatic agenda lies hidden: discussions about military cooperation, economic relations and digital technologies. And it is not by chance that among these, diplomatic sources have primarily focused on the military sector.
NARRATIVES: 1. The Republic of Moldova joins a European coalition against the USA. 2. Military topics will dominate the agenda of the upcoming EU-Republic of Moldova summit.
PURPOSE: To undermine the legitimacy of the Republic of Moldova’s collaboration with the European Union, presenting it as an act of hostility towards the United States of America. To promote the idea that the government in Chișinău serves the geopolitical interests of Brussels to the detriment of traditionally good relations with the USA. To fuel fears of a possible military involvement of the Republic of Moldova and to promote the idea that the country is being drawn into a strategic conflict that does not directly concern it. To discredit official discourse on European integration, suggesting that hidden agendas and real threats to neutrality and national security are hidden behind this democratic rhetoric.
WHY THE NARRATIVES ARE FALSE: First of all, the authors are trying to suggest the existence of an anti-American coalition within the EU, a hypothesis that lacks factual basis. Europe has not created any kind of anti-Trump coalition. The narrative is similar to another recent one, debunked by Veridica, according to which the EU will allegedly become a military bloc. This false narrative is based on the ReArm Europe plan, proposed by the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, which aims to strengthen the defense capabilities of EU member states in the context of threats from Russia and the Trump administration's distancing itself from ensuring security within NATO. Increasing the defense capabilities of member states does not, however, turn the EU into a military bloc, much less into an anti-US coalition.
The “strong” argument brought by the authors - that evidence of the anti-Americanism of the Chișinău regime is the organization of a Moldova-EU summit on July 4, the US Independence Day, is downright hilarious. If we were to follow this logic, the EU and other countries in the world should have declared war on the United States long ago for daring to organize international meetings on July 4. One of these was the first EU-Brazil summit in 2007, or the July 4, 2016 Berlin Process summit. Another similar event held around July 4 was hosted by Poznan, Poland, in 2019.
There is also no confirmation that military topics will rank high on the summit agenda. Officially, the agenda for talks has not yet been disclosed. The European Council has created a dedicated webpage for this event, but has not published any information so far. The only unofficial information about what will be discussed on July 4 in Chișinău was written by the Ukrainian publication European Pravda. The publication cites diplomatic sources which stated that the summit will adopt a declaration that “should emphasize the strategic importance of the future of the Republic of Moldova in the European Union, its sovereignty, security and democratic development”. The publication’s sources also specified that “in addition to political issues, the summit will tackle cooperation between the European Union and the Republic of Moldova in the field of security and defense, economic relations between Moldova and the EU, as well as collaboration in the field of digital technologies”. Therefore, the diplomatic source does not state that military topics will be given any priority, as stated in the post. In addition, the European Union is not a military alliance, so it would not even make sense to organize a summit on this topic.
BACKGROUND: After the victory of pro-European factions in the 2020 presidential and 2021 parliamentary elections, the Republic of Moldova has taken important steps towards EU integration, a process that was accelerated with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The two countries and Georgia submitted their accession applications in March 2022, and later in June the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine obtained the status of candidate countries. 18 months later, the European Council also decided to officially launch accession negotiations.
However, the European accession efforts of the Republic of Moldova are undermined from within by pro-Russian political forces, supported by the Kremlin, most likely also through financial means, which prefer an eastern vector of development. These are primarily the political groups controlled by the fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor, but, also by the Party of Socialists, led by the former pro-Moscow president, Igor Dodon, although in a less open manner. At the same time, some reforms, especially in the justice field, are reporting very slow progress, also because of the system that opposes changes.
A referendum on the European integration of the Republic of Moldova, organized in October 2024, passed narrowly, and a parliamentary election is due to be held on September 28, described by some politicians and political analysts as “crucial” in the context in which the pro-presidential Action and Solidarity Party could lose its parliamentary majority and there are questions about whether it will be able to form a pro-European coalition in the future Parliament.
Moldovan-American relations seem to have been slightly affected by the change of power in Washington, given that the government in Chișinău was supported by the former Biden administration. Even if the Americans have a more reserved attitude (there is no question of hostility in any case), this is not due to any change in discourse in Chișinău, which is keen on maintaining an excellent relationship, but is the effect of the new US administration policy shift.
