Română
Top Political Accounts January 2023-May 2023
Based on List Monitoring in Crowdtangle with politicians from the Republic of Moldova
Source – Crowdtangle
Narrative 1: The European Union accession – A threat to the pro-Russian establishment?
The Pro-Russian opposition parties promote standard ex-soviet state Russian propaganda, personalized for the context of the Republic of Moldova. The shift towards democracy and the West is clear among the Moldavian population. Huge pro-European rallies and international events held in Chisinau, the capital city of the small country, are powerful diplomatic tools used by the democratic government to counter Russian propaganda. Pre-bunking was often used by the President to expose the Kremlin’s plans to destabilize the country.
However, the pro-Russian opposition remains a significant force in the country, with the two main parties receiving unconditional funding from Russia.
Narrative 2: NATO – Security Threat?
When it comes to anti-NATO propaganda, here the bar is very low in the Republic of Moldova. One of the most popular narratives is quite old, but a lot more aggressive since the start of the invasion in 2022. The message is clear, Moldova could be next if it puts itself between Western powers and the Kremlin. We do not see the same pro-peace, neutrality narrative as we analyzed in Hungary, but rather an aggressive threat towards the very existence of the Republic of Moldova if it goes too deep in its tied with NATO.
How is this exploited in domestic social media? Firstly, here we see a tie between anti-NATO content in Romania being shared on pages in the Republic of Moldova. Romania TV, the station of a fugitive politician is the most toxic tv channel filled with fake news, and extreme content is often shared on websites and pages that promote anti-NATO content in Moldova. Could this be a coincidence? Little investigation is being made around these ties, but it could just be self-interest to find other channels with similar agenda and use them for credibility.
Maia Sandu – Maia Sandu is a Moldovan politician who has been the President of Moldova since 24 December 2020, former leader of the Party of Action and Solidarity, and former Prime Minister of Moldova. (Pro-Western politician)
Ion Ceban – Ion Ceban is a Moldovan politician, current mayor of Chisinau. He is also the leader of the pro-European party National Alternative Movement. Ceban is known as a pro-Russian politician and a former member of Dodon’s party. However, the politician has distanced himself from this party and condemned Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and the invasion in 2022.
Igor Dodon – Igor Dodon is a Moldovan politician who previously served as the president of Moldova and currently serves as the leader of the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova. (Pro Russian)
Dumitru Alaiba – Minister of Economy in the Gavrilița Government, member of the Moldovan Parliament for the second term, and member of the faction of the Action and Solidarity Party. He is a strong supporter of the European integration of Moldova.
Marina Tauber – Deputy Chairman of the “SHOR” Party, MP Marina Tauber, pro-Russian. Since the 1st of May 2023, she is in house arrest on the claims of involvement in illegal funding of the Shor Party.
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