Moldova’s governing Alliance for European Integration (AEI) has split yet again, this time over a historical assessment of Soviet rule and Communism in Moldova. On June 28, leaders of three parties, out of the AEI’s four, cancelled literally at the last minute the Parliament’s session... MORE

On June 24, Moldova’s interim president Mihai Ghimpu issued a decree instituting June 28 as the Day of Remembrance of the Soviet Occupation—an event that occurred on June 28, 1940 in what was then Bessarabia, a part of Romania. The decree does not mention Romania... MORE

Abolishing the EU’s Special Representative posts in Moldova and South Caucasus, as proposed, would look like de-prioritizing the solution of frozen conflicts, and the European neighborhood’s security (“The EU’s Declaration of Impotence,” RFE/RL, June 2).Since their inception in 2003 and 2005, respectively, these posts are... MORE

The EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton, has proposed abolishing the posts of EU Special Representative for Moldova and for the South Caucasus region, the scenes of “frozen” conflicts in the EU’s neighborhood. Scrapping the two posts would reduce the... MORE

In 2008, Russia “unfroze” the conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia through outright war and occupation of these Georgian territories. In the latter part of 2009, the United States and Russia each accelerated negotiations on the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, each pressing for some kind of quick... MORE

Moldova’s parliament, a product of repeat elections in July and deadlocked since then, has scheduled its fourth official attempt this year (technically the fifth attempt) to elect a head of state for December 7. The governing Alliance for European Integration (AEI) officially supports Marian Lupu,... MORE

On November 21-22 in St. Petersburg, the Moldovan governing alliance’s candidate for head of state, Marian Lupu, attended the congress of Russia’s party of power, United Russia, which is officially headed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Lupu initialed together with Duma Chairman Boris Gryzlov a... MORE

Moldova’s simultaneous crises –economic and constitutional– have opened a door for Russia to influence politics in Chisinau and arbitrate the power struggles there. The dual crisis, ongoing since early spring, has deepened after two inconclusive parliamentary elections, four failed attempts to elect the head of... MORE

Russia currently holds a greater degree of relevance and influence in Moldovan politics than at any time during the eight years of nominal communist rule (2001-2009) and indeed since 1991 in that country. Russia’s growing political role is a direct result of Moldova’s indecisive parliamentary... MORE