By Galina Korol | 2025-09-17

A decisive battle for the future is unfolding in Moldova, where money and disinformation have become the main weapons against democracy.

In northern Moldova earlier this month, police stormed more than 40 homes in coordinated raids. The suspects were not drug traffickers or arms dealers but individuals accused of buying votes. Days earlier, similar operations in the south netted three detainees.

Investigators say the scheme funneled money through Promsvyazbank, a Russian bank already under international sanctions, to bankroll parties and candidates ahead of September's parliamentary elections.

These scenes -- armed police raids, illicit cash transfers and the mobilization of special forces -- show the extraordinary pressures surrounding Moldova's vote. On September 28, Moldovans will elect a new parliament in a contest President Maia Sandu has called decisive for the country's future.

"Unfortunately, our democracy is increasingly under attack from foreign powers who, using dirty money, want to buy our votes," Sandu warned in late August, as quoted by NewsMaker.

For outside observers, the contest has become a litmus test of how democracies withstand hybrid assaults that rely not on tanks but on bribes, propaganda and information control.

Digital battlefield

That battlefield is increasingly digital. According to political scientist Dmytro Levus of the think tank United Ukraine, Russian influence in Moldova "has always been enormous" -- not only through Transnistria but also via political parties.

The tactics remain familiar: bribing voters while simultaneously waging an intensive information war. Moscow, Levus told Kontur, pays for "content aimed at discrediting the European course," amplifying themes of identity loss, economic despair and moral decline.

The reach of such campaigns is amplified by social platforms.

Oleg Lisnyi, a Ukrainian political scientist and president of the think tank Politika, noteed that TikTok in particular has been flooded with propaganda videos.

"We see that TikTok is actually transforming from a hub for entertainment into one that significantly influences people's opinions, and very quickly, because reel thinking … now dominates in certain social strata, both here and in Moldova," he told Kontur.

The Kremlin's messaging also pushes the idea of Moldovan "neutrality," presenting it as a safeguard against entanglement in war. Levus countered that in reality, neutrality means further demilitarization, leaving Moldova unable to defend itself even as Russian missiles and drones cross its territory.

A divided society

If foreign interference finds traction in Moldova, analysts argue, it is because of existing internal rifts.

"There are many issues that we are divided on," Alexei Tulbure, a political analyst and former Moldovan representative to the UN and Council of Europe, told Kontur. Those divisions create conditions for outside actors to foment conflict.

In his view, the only way forward is compromise.

"It's a waste of time to look for certain incidents in the past to try to prove you are right to the other half … We need a compromise option, some sort of synthesis that reconciles both sides," Tulbure argued, pointing to European integration and reform as potential unifying forces.

Polling suggests that most Moldovans favor EU membership, and last year's referendum held alongside the presidential election confirmed that orientation. As Levus put it, "Moldovans, as a people, are already quite actively integrated into the West."

Europe's stakes

The contest is drawing attention far beyond Chisinau.

Canada has imposed sanctions on 16 individuals and several entities linked to foreign interference in Moldova's affairs, including Gagauzian leader Eugenia Gutul and the Victory political bloc.

Europe, too, is watching closely. On August 27, during celebrations of Moldova's 33rd independence anniversary, three leaders -- French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk -- visited Chisinau together. Their coordinated arrival was a symbolic show of support for Moldova's EU course.

For them, the stakes extend beyond one country. Moldova borders Romania, a member of the EU and NATO, and Ukraine, which has been resisting Russia's invasion for four years.

As Lisnyi warned, "Well, God forbid, something happens to Ukraine -- Moldova will be next, and Russia will achieve its goals there much faster than here." Any reversal in Moldova, he added, could threaten NATO's borders and destabilize Ukraine's rear.

The European leaders echoed those concerns, condemning foreign attempts to interfere through propaganda and disinformation. Merz stressed that the EU's door remains open, Macron called Moldova's choice of Europe "a contribution to peace and the rule of law," and Tusk underscored that "today we are in Chisinau not only as friends, but also as allies."