A few political updates from Moldova, incl. celebrations by pro-Russian and far right groups about AfD's victory in Saxony-Anhalt, Al. Stoianoglo running for Gagauz governor, and Estonia's and Norway's first Ambassadors residing in Chișinău ...

Funniest story over the weekend: pro-Russian Moldovan fugitive oligarch Veaceslav Platon, who is hiding out in London, just announced a "civic platform" entitled "Bună Ziua!" (literally "good day!" but it's a greeting in Romanian that's something like "hello!") ...

Done watching Curtis's excellent 7-hour (!) "Russia 1985-1999: TraumaZone." I grew up in Moldova in the 1990s, so the documentary was like reliving the chaos, horror, and bemusing absurdity of the collapse of the USSR. Every single piece ...

An independent portal reports on the continuing influence of Russian among non-RU ethnic minorities in Moldova: in the Bulgarian-majority Taraclia raion, 15% of residents said RU was their native language, but about 40% of residents use RU as their primary day-to-day language...

If you want a (digital) piece of history, Moldova's archives agency has posted a full copy of a 1989 brochure teaching Moldovans how to switch from the cyrillic to the Latin script in Romanian. We had a copy of it at home, like many Moldovans. It's a unique reading experience ...

Pro-Russian propaganda channels in Moldova are in the amusing situation of praising a NATO member (Iceland) for being a model for "defending sovereignty," after it rejected the resumption of EU negotiations. Moldova had its own 2024 EU referendum, which was very close, ...

It looks like the autonomous region of Gagauzia in Moldova will be holding elections for its regional legislature and the bașkan (governor) position on November 15. The elections are crucial because the Kremlin will seek to preserve its control over the region ...

Missed this investigation earlier in August: an independent Russian outlet found one in six RU diplomats in Austria is connected to secret service agencies. The outlet used public data to look up names and affiliations. Data doesn't include administrative staff ...

New term to add to the political vocabulary in Moldova: "брюссельско-бухарестский тандем" (the Brussels-Bucharest tandem). Moscow says this tandem is exploiting MD and seeks to erase the "glorious pages" of RU-MD cooperation (like the Gulag and organized famine, presumably) ...

On Romanian Language Day, here's video footage of Soviet police in 1989 attacking protesters who were asking for a return to the Latin script and for Romanian to be made the official language. A good reminder that Moldovans fought in the streets to speak their native language ...

As Romanian Language Day approaches (Aug. 31), I'd like to talk about one of my prized possessions: Valentin Guțu's Dicționar al Greșelilor de Limbă (a dictionary of Romanian language mistakes). It's about how to speak and write literary Romanian, but it's not dogmatic ...

On Moldova's independence day, here's one of my favorite MD stamps, which symbolizes the country's break from Moscow: an old Soviet stamp with an overprint of grapes and the name "Moldova" on it (the stamp is from 1992). Source: my own copy of the post office's stamp catalog.

Recommend this discussion between independent journalist Mihail Sirkeli and IPRE expert Daniel Vodă on an under-reported topic: China's influence in Moldova. A few highlights. Sirkeli notes visible Chinese presence in the country: lots of Chinese cars, ...

I didn't think I'd see so much Javier Milei content while monitoring Moldovan politics. Premier Vasile Tofan, who said MD needs a Milei (he later walked back that statement), has appointed a Romanian M.P. and another Milei fan - Claudiu Năsui - to head the Economy Ministry ...

On Ukraine's Independence Day, Moldovan Pres. Maia Sandu said it's difficult to imagine a free MD without a free Ukraine. Igor Dodon, the most popular pro-Russian politician in MD, said instead that Western states are prolonging the war by giving Ukraine funding ...

It's easy to forget now, but, only a few years ago, Moldova was controlled by oligarch Vlad Plahotniuc. He and his allies used law enforcement institutions to conduct surveillance and fabricate criminal investigations for dozens of opposition politicians, journalists, and ...

Moldova's secret service (SIS) has released a 34-page English-language report on Russia's ammo depot in Cobasna (Transnistria). SIS concludes that the "threat posed by the Cobasna ammunition depot has been systematically exaggerated" and debunks "disaster narratives" about it ...

En mer Noire, la guerre des drones maritimes et aériens s'est intensifiée cet été. Les attaques russes se sont multipliées pour asphyxier l'économie ukrainienne, en plein saison d'exportations des céréales. Des attaques qui touchent aussi la #Roumanie et la #Moldavie. Décryptage pour Le Monde:

Guerre en Ukraine : pour la Roumanie et la Moldavie, l’enjeu crucial de la lutte contre les drones russes

De plus en plus d’appareils et de débris s’écrasent dans les deux pays, perturbant leur économie. Si le caractère intentionnel de ces incursions est souvent difficile à établir, la multiplication des ...

lemonde.fr

As Moldova's Independence Day approaches (Aug. 27), here's a study in contrasts. First, Moldova Socialistă (Aug. 27, 1989), in cyrillic Romanian, with news from across the USSR, under the slogan "my homeland is vast/boundless." Second, the same newspaper, now Moldova Suverană ...

Very useful infographic from Radio Free Europe Moldova showing where drones have crashed in the country since 2022. About 23 registered crashes out of over 60 airspace violations. The source (moldova.europalibera.org/a/harta-dron...) also has a separate map of where missiles have crashed.

End of an era (kind of): the Gagauz legislature has officially deemed the governor's seat vacant, so Evghenia Guțul's term is done. Guțul is doing time at the Rusca women's prison after accepting illegal funding from her ally, Kremlin protege and oligarch Ilan Șor...

Moldovan Pres. M. Sandu made an important point worth translating into English in full. Asked if Russian drones are violating MD airspace accidentally or intentionally, Sandu said: "I think some drones get here accidentally and other drones get here because they are sent, ...

Like clockwork, Russian propaganda mocking and minimizing drone violations of Moldovan airspace shortly after another one exploded in Talmaza (Ștefan Vodă raion): Sputnik Moldova says the drone only caused a "ямка" (a small pit/hole), not a crater, as MD police reported.

Useful visual from the Moldovan govt. illustrating the precarious water situation in the river Nistru (where 80% of Moldovans get their water): because of a drought, there isn't enough water going into Ukraine's Novodnistrovsk reservoir, which is releasing more than it gets ...

High-energy start to Transnistrian propaganda this week: a portal claims that Chișinău hates Tiraspol so much that it's telling people to stop using vaccums to avoid buying electricity from the separatist region (tiraspol-news.ru/society/2026...), and separatist leader V. Krasnoselski ...

Молдаване отказываются от кондиционеров и пылесосов, лишь бы не брать электричество в Приднестровье - Лента новостей Приднестровья

Молдова закупает в Румынии 67,5% необходимой ей электроэнергии. Остановка на прошлой неделе румынской Чернаводской АЭС из-за обмеления Дуная нанесла Кишиневу крайне ощутимый удар. Власти пугают веерны...

tiraspol-news.ru

Nice summary in The Economist on unification between Moldova and Romania as an alternative to EU integration (I'm still mad about The Economist platforming a Russian oligarch, but that's a different discussion). The article (economist.com/europe/2026/...) makes an essential point ...

Might Moldova merge with Romania?

Its leaders are starting to mention an alternative route to joining the EU

economist.com

If you want a helpful round-up in English about Russia's hybrid warfare in Moldova, the NYT has a long feature on it. The article also makes a crucial point about MD's challenges (see screenshot): RU is playing a very long game and seeks to exhaust MD's resources ...

Still not much official reaction from Transnistria after fugitive former Polish deputy justice min. M. Romanowski sent correspondence to a Polish court from a Tiraspol address. It's unclear if he's actually there, and Moldova's police has no record of him entering the country ...

For the first time in Moldova's history, an Independence Day military parade will not use Soviet-era weapons and military technology, including Kalashnikovs. In contrast, in 2001, the parade (organized by the pro-Russian Communists) used two grey convertible Soviet-era Volgas...

Quite a few stories on the politics of language in Moldova recently, including fears in Gagauzia of requirements that governor candidates speak Romanian, fears of "Romanianization" in Transnistria, and the continuing dominance of Russian dubbing in movie theaters...