Yet Another Crucial Election: Moldova between Russia’s Hybrid War and EU Accession

Roundtable Osteuropa

With Anastasia Pociumban and Nadja Douglas

Caught between Russian influence and disinformation campaigns on the one hand and the chance of EU accession on the other, Moldovans will elect a new parliament on 28 September. After pro-European president Maia Sandu narrowly defeated her opponent in last year’s presidential elections, Moldova now faces yet another crucial election. In this episode of the ZOiS podcast, we will look at Moldova’s current political landscape and its most prominent actors ahead of the election – as well as the internal and external factors that may have a negative influence on the election process. Our guests are Anastasia Pociumban and Nadja Douglas. Before the electorate decides on the make-up of the next parliament, we will discuss why Russia targets Moldova’s elections, what coalitions are likely, what is at stake and what the future may hold for Moldova and the EU going forward.

Music: “Complete” by Modul is licensed under a CC BY-NC-ND 3.0-License.

Further Reading:

Promo-LEX Association, Observation Mission For The Parlamentary Elections Of 28 September 2025, Report No. 1, Oberservation Period: 17 April - 21 July, 2025 https://epde.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/report-no.-1promo-lex-om2025_en.pdf

Further reading:

Russian disinformation campaigns; deep fakes; Ilan Shor: Euro News, Sep. 23, https://www.euronews.com/next/2025/09/23/inside-russias-ai-driven-disinformation-machine-shaping-moldovas-election

Russian interference; disinformation online: New York Times Sep. 7, https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/07/business/russia-disinformation-trump.html (paywall)

Russia, Ukraine, Moldova; hybrid warfare; disinformation: Alexander Shulga, Moscow Times, Jul. 2, https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/07/02/moldova-is-the-testing-ground-for-russias-disinformation-machine-a89651

APuZ-Ausgabe zu Moldau, Juli 2024 (auf Deutsch): https://www.bpb.de/shop/zeitschriften/apuz/republik-moldau-2024/

Sprecher*innen:

Anastasia Pociumban (DGAP) https://dgap.org/en/user/28899/anastasia-pociumban

Nadja Douglas (ZOiS, SWP) https://www.zois-berlin.de/ueber-uns/mitarbeiterinnen/dr-nadja-douglas/

Moderation: Stefanie Orphal (ZOiS)

Fejezetek

1. Intro (00:00:00)

2. Who are the candidates? (00:02:38)

3. Destabilisation (00:11:19)

4. Why Russia targets Moldova (00:19:46)

5. What's at stake? (00:29:33)

6. Outro (00:37:58)