EU Dreams Collide with Russia’s Hybrid War in Moldova

Moldova is small, but its geopolitical weight is no longer marginal Wedged between Romania and Ukraine, close to the Black Sea and carrying the unresolved problem of Transnistria, the country has become one of the most exposed points in the contest between Russia and the European Union. The issue is not simply whether Chisinau can join the EU. It is whether a vulnerable post-Soviet state can move into the European political and legal space while Russia retains tools to destabilize it from within. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine accelerated this strategic choice. Moldova applied for EU membership in March 2022,…