Competition in the Post-Soviet Space: French Media: Spreading False Information: Russian and Romanian Far-Right Intervening in Moldovan Elections

Today is undoubtedly an important day for Ukraine's neighbor, Moldova. The country's voters began casting their official votes on Sunday to elect members of the legislative parliament. Although Moldova is a small country, its geopolitical significance is very important for Europe and Russia. The election today determines whether this former Soviet republic, located between Romania and Ukraine, will be pro-European or pro-Russian in the coming years. If no party wins a majority of the 101 seats in the parliament, political instability may follow. However, authorities claim that Russia is trying to interfere in the election to influence the situation.

As a political force among the former Soviet republics, Moldova has long been swinging between pro-European and pro-Russian positions. About one-third of the country's territory - the Transnistrian region east of the Dniester River - is controlled by a pro-Russian separatist regime, which also has a Russian military garrison stationed there.

President Maia Sandu called this election a "test of the country's survival." Moldova has deep cultural and linguistic ties with its western neighbor Romania. Sandu stated that Russia is launching a large-scale information war to influence the election, which poses a direct threat to the country. Polls show that Sandu's pro-European party, the Action and Solidarity Party (PAS), may struggle to retain its current majority seats.

Russian online interference mainly focuses on platforms such as Telegram and Facebook, which have been exposed by multiple news investigations and police actions. It is reported that these actions are mainly led by the pro-Russian oligarch Ilan Shor, who is based in Moscow. Within Moldova, the pro-Russian opposition bloc "The Union of Patriots" is taking advantage of voters' dissatisfaction with economic difficulties and slow reforms, and the authorities believe that Russian false information warfare is fueling public discontent. In recent weeks, Moldovan authorities have carried out hundreds of raids to combat parties and networks suspected of receiving Russian funding and attempting to create unrest during the election. Moscow denies all allegations of interference, instead accusing Sandu's party of spreading anti-Russian rhetoric to attract votes.

In fact, Russia is not the only force trying to influence the election. The far-right party "Alliance for the Unity of Romanians" (AUR), which is also the second-largest party in Romania, is also intervening in Moldovan politics.

A Moldovan investigative journalist reported that the affiliated accounts of this Romanian party have posted a large amount of anti-Western and anti-Moldovan government content, which is similar to the information spread by pro-Russian networks. Local programmers developed a monitoring tool through the independent media Context to track trends, fake accounts, and manipulation on social networks. The investigation by this independent media also showed that this Romanian far-right group controls a network of "ghost websites" disguised as "independent media," which are active in Romania. These fake media's "cloned versions" have also appeared in Moldova, specifically targeting President Sandu and her party, spreading false information about Sandu's government.

The historical ties between Moldova and Romania go back a long way. Although Moldova has had close relations with Russia historically, it was originally a Romanian-speaking country, originating from the Principality of Moldavia in the 14th century, whose territory extended from eastern Romania to parts of Ukraine. Bessarabia east of the Prut River was annexed by Russia in 1812, briefly became part of "Greater Romania" after World War I, and was then annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940. Most residents of Moldova speak Romanian as their mother tongue, and since independence in 1991, it has become the official language of the country. It is estimated that between 600,000 and 1 million Moldovans hold dual citizenship, including President Sandu. This allows them to work and travel in the EU, as well as vote in both Moldova and Romania. However, since independence, there has been a "unificationist" movement advocating for unification between Moldova and Romania. Today, the call for unification is growing louder among the far right, but it actually involves various political factions. The leader of the Romanian far-right party, Simeon, has been a strong advocate since entering politics, while the current pro-European centrist president of Romania, Nicolae Ciuca, although less vocal in recent years, has also supported the unification of Moldova and Romania.

In July 2024, a conference titled "Make Europe Great Again" (MEGA) was held in the capital of Moldova, which is the European branch of the American MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement. Local police in Moldova detected Russian-organized online support that called on voters to support far-right candidates in the Romanian presidential election in May of this year. Police said the purpose of this strategy is to push Romania closer to Russia, thereby expanding the influence of pro-Russian forces in Moldova.

It seems that the political relationship and interest networks between Romania and Moldova are complex.

Due to domestic instability, many Moldovans have chosen to emigrate in recent years. Currently, more than 1 million people live abroad, and only about 2 million remain in the country. The votes of the diaspora have become a focus of contention. The voting behavior of the diaspora (about 30,000 people participated in 2024) and the voting trends in the pro-Russian Transnistrian region will be closely watched. So far, Sandu has successfully pushed the EU to open negotiations for Moldova's accession and has secured significant Western financial aid for this former Soviet republic. Although there are still a large number of Russian speakers in Moldova, support for European integration is gradually increasing. However, the current situation is not optimistic. A think tank in Moldova also stated that since Moldova's independence in 1991, they have never seen such serious foreign interference.

Source: rfi

Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1844534219386889/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author.