Russian political proxies are weaponising protests in Moldova, escalating Russia’s hybrid war in the country. Despite optimistic appearances, Moldovan authorities are ill-prepared to face this crisis.
If Moldova can resist Russia’s weaponisation of gas and get through this winter, it should be able to make strong progress on its programme of reforms
Moldova’s total dependence on Russian gas makes it a key front in Moscow’s hybrid war. The EU should help Moldova diversify its energy supplies to prevent further destabilisation.
Russia could target Moldova by embarking on a limited-scope but overt military invasion – or by pursuing more covert hybrid aggression scenarios. Moldova and the EU need to embrace “active resilience” to address this.
A European political community would help candidates for EU membership resist outside pressure and enact democratic and economic reforms
Europeans should urgently increase Frontex assistance to Moldova, enhance intelligence cooperation, and consider positioning NATO units based in Romania closer to the country’s border
Russia’s war on Ukraine could have a heavy impact on other post-Soviet countries. Unless the EU helps these countries deal with the effects of the conflict, they could become increasingly dependent on the Kremlin.
Relations between Moldova and Transnistria seem to be losing some of their traditional hostility. But, if Russia is in a hurry to achieve a public relations victory in Moldova, Chisinau will find it difficult to make progress in talks with the Transnistrian authorities.
The EU should offer Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine a new intelligence and security compact to help strengthen their security against Russia
Young diplomats in Eastern Partnership countries are optimistic and pro-European. Many of them want the EU to become a bolder geopolitical actor.
If Moldova can resist Russia’s weaponisation of gas and get through this winter, it should be able to make strong progress on its programme of reforms
Russia could target Moldova by embarking on a limited-scope but overt military invasion – or by pursuing more covert hybrid aggression scenarios. Moldova and the EU need to embrace “active resilience” to address this.
The EU should offer Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine a new intelligence and security compact to help strengthen their security against Russia
Young diplomats in Eastern Partnership countries are optimistic and pro-European. Many of them want the EU to become a bolder geopolitical actor.
The EU should make use of its significant leverage in Georgia and Moldova to counter their ruling parties’ extensive repertoire of electoral dirty tricks
Europe must change policy towards Russia to protect partnering countries
What Russia will do and how Europe can respond
How to defrost Moldova’s frozen conflict
Russian political proxies are weaponising protests in Moldova, escalating Russia’s hybrid war in the country. Despite optimistic appearances, Moldovan authorities are ill-prepared to face this crisis.
Moldova’s total dependence on Russian gas makes it a key front in Moscow’s hybrid war. The EU should help Moldova diversify its energy supplies to prevent further destabilisation.
A European political community would help candidates for EU membership resist outside pressure and enact democratic and economic reforms
Europeans should urgently increase Frontex assistance to Moldova, enhance intelligence cooperation, and consider positioning NATO units based in Romania closer to the country’s border
Russia’s war on Ukraine could have a heavy impact on other post-Soviet countries. Unless the EU helps these countries deal with the effects of the conflict, they could become increasingly dependent on the Kremlin.
Relations between Moldova and Transnistria seem to be losing some of their traditional hostility. But, if Russia is in a hurry to achieve a public relations victory in Moldova, Chisinau will find it difficult to make progress in talks with the Transnistrian authorities.
The EU should learn from Moldova’s response to its gas crisis. It would be a mistake to link Russian concessions on energy prices to talks in areas such as trade policy.
The EU’s success is mixed in generating reform among Eastern Partnership countries. But patience and self-confidence remain its best bet for the future.
Eastern Europe has so far not seen an outbreak of the coronavirus as severe as that in the west of the continent. But the situation…
Swift action from Brussels transformed the Moldova crisis on the ground. The EU will now learn to keep oligarchic governments at arm’s length in future.
Dicussion on Moldova's ongoing political crisis, the reasons behind the different actors involvement and the challenges the new government now faces
El pasado jueves 16 de noviembre, ECFR Madrid y esglobal, en colaboración con el Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores y Cooperación (MAEC), organizaron un desayuno de trabajo a puerta cerrada
Panel discussion on the future of Europe's Eastern Partnership
How should Europe engage with the separatist authorities and people living in these territories?
Russia underwent fundamental military reforms which not only included modernization of equipment but also changes on structure and staffing. In the recent past, we have observed significantly faster mobilization of troops within few days and major threats to EU and NATO members. However, the European Union is badly prepared for the various scenarios regarding its defence strategy. For that a better coordination between EU and NATO, a willingness to react, and a re-focus on military core functions and capacities is of fundamental importance. The discussion proved to be very lively. Consensus on the strengthening of Russia's military was clearly at hand, but regarding the instruments to encounter this new military giant is still an open question for the foreseeable future.
For the moment, the European Political Community is essentially a forum for discussion of major strategic issues
Marie Dumoulin was invited to RFI’s Carrefour de l’Europe podcast to discuss the European Political Community summit in Moldova
This project cannot be reduced to an act of opposition to Russia
Marie Dumoulin spoke on France Culture about expectations ahead of the second European Political Community summit in Chișinău
Because of the neutral status enshrined in the constitution, the country cannot be a member of any military alliance
Moldova would have a hard time joining NATO because of its stance on neutrality, explains Marie Dumoulin
Although there’s been some slight shift in public opinion, the crisis doesn’t change the fundamentals of Moldova’s European direction
Andrew Wilson on how the energy crisis affects tensions between Moldova and the breakaway territory of Transnistria
If the European Union wants to live up to its ambitions in its immediate vicinity, it should invest in the enlargement process rather than create new formats for summit meetings
