Russia Is Playing a Long Game in Moldova

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

63% : Moldova's EU candidacy offers an opportunity to transform the country's politics, society, and economy and to increase stability in the region.
61% : Chisinau's move to hold a popular referendum on EU membership concurrently with the presidential vote was strategic; it appears to stem from a desire to make Moldova's course toward EU membership irreversible by embedding it in the constitution.
60% : Transnistrian officials and business leaders have told me privately that they are intrigued by Moldova's prospects for EU membership.
59% : This year, 80 percent of the region's exports went to EU countries.
57% : In the 2009 parliamentary elections, Moldovans elected a coalition of pro-Western parties explicitly dedicated to European integration.
57% : The parliament ultimately controls all of the institutional, legal, and policy changes that Moldova must make in its process of qualifying for EU membership.
57% : But if the imminent referendum demonstrates widespread pro-EU sentiment, it will ensure a clear popular mandate for the government's westward political course.
57% : Both the EU and the United States can support Moldova as the country implements reforms to bring its public institutions up to EU standards, including key judicial and anticorruption reforms.
55% : Because polling suggests that the pro-Western Sandu is quite likely to win and that the referendum on EU membership will obtain a 55-60 percent majority in favor of joining, such analyses already embed a celebratory conclusion: these outcomes will signal that Moldova is steadfastly resisting Russia's influence campaigns and pursuing greater alignment with Europe.
51% : Moldovan officials allege that the money had been designated for buying pro-Russian votes and paying anti-EU demonstrators -- and that Shor had a hand in organizing the scheme.
47% : Ziarul de Garda, a leading Moldovan media outlet, recently published an account by an undercover journalist who related how Russian activists affiliated with Shor recruited and paid her to join anti-Sandu demonstrations.

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