Weekly Roundup: Elections Called for September
April 17, 2025
Moldova Will Go to the Polls on September 28th
Today, Speaker of Parliament Igor Grosu proposed holding parliamentary elections on September 28th. While introducing the resolution he said:
"Dear citizens, this fall we have some defining elections for the history of the country. Even if you have heard this many times over the years, these elections are truly crucial. Either we kick everything, destroy everything we have achieved on the European path, of modernization and block any chance of joining the European Union, or we move forward on the path of development and peace. Our objective for these elections is to ensure that we do not turn back from the path to peace and development, that the country does not return under the control of some instructions from the Kremlin, that we preserve our sovereignty and freedom,"
Parliament later voted to officially set the date with a vote of 57 MPs “for” and 32 abstentions.
President Sandu Addresses Parliament
At the start of the plenary session this morning President Sandu addressed parliament in a speech that was broadcast as a reflection on the state of the nation and on the direction the country is heading.
The President contextualized her remarks by acknowledging that instability and conflict in the world is growing and stressing her priorities for the nation saying:
“We are living in a time when the international order we know and trust is undergoing profound change. Globally, we are witnessing an increasing number of conflicts - military, diplomatic and commercial. In our region, for three years, Russia has been waging an unjust and brutal war against Ukraine.” …
“… the most important thing we need to do is to preserve peace and freedom.”
She stressed that Moldova will be best able to secure peace and freedom through accession to the European Union. A goal that she set out as a national priority that can be accomplished in the next 4 years.
The President also focused on Russian hybrid attacks, particularly voter bribery. She made an impassioned appeal to citizens to see these actions in the context of history saying:
“…how can we explain to the whole world, but especially to our children and grandchildren who are coming later, that some Moldovans have sold their vote and, respectively, their country? Because this is the truth: those who sell their vote sell their country. We are responsible to our ancestors who guarded this land, but also to future generations to take care of our country. We are proud of our brave and worthy ancestors. We cannot only be the beneficiaries of this pride, we must pass it on, to be brave and worthy ourselves, to be good patriots.”
President Sandu ended her speech with a call to “leave misunderstandings aside” in the context of the Easter Holiday, “a time of forgiveness, of resurrection, of joy to fill ourselves with light.”
You can read the full text of the speech here.
Bipartisan Congressional Delegation Visits Chisinau
On Monday a bipartisan congressional delegation (CODEL) visited Moldova and met with senior government leaders. The delegation was organized by the "House Democracy Partnership1" and led by Representative Vern Buchanan (R-FL). It also included representatives Neal Dunn (R-FL), Andy Ogles (R-TN), Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), Dina Titus (D-NV), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) and Ted Lieu (C-CA).
In a statement following their meeting with President Sandu, the President’s press office put out a statement saying:
"The head of state drew attention to the risks generated by the Russian Federation's hybrid attacks - including attempts to influence the electoral process - and emphasized the essential role of the Republic of Moldova in maintaining regional stability along the 1,222 km border with Ukraine invaded by Russia. In this context, the president emphasized the importance of maintaining American support, especially in the field of energy security of the Republic of Moldova,"
This is the first CODEL to Moldova organized since Donald Trump returned to office. Romanian outlets later reported that during the visit the congressmen assured Moldovan officials that they would support resuming work on the congressionally appropriated Straseni-Gutinas power line project. The project has been in limbo since the destruction of USAID. The same outlets reported that assurances were made of continued cybersecurity cooperation between the US and Moldova in the context of upcoming elections and Russian interference.
Following their visit to Moldova the CODEL continued on to Bucharest where they reportedly had positive meetings with the Interim President. There the congressmen expressed support for Romania being included in the visa waiver program. They also asked for clarifications around the cancelation of last Fall’s presidential elections and were reportedly "satisfied with the clarifications provided" and did not express concerns about the upcoming repeat elections in May.
Other Foreign Affairs and Security News
Here’s a roundup of the other top stories of the week:
The government announces progress on construction of a new American Embassy. The head of the Public Property Agency announced that an advance payment of €3.2 million euros was received from the US government for the purpose of consolidating land on the site of the former Republican Stadium. This entails payments to the owners of plots that will be expropriated. The government will soon announce the start of the expropriation process. Officials noted that they are confident that the United States would continue planned construction under the terms of the bilateral memorandum signed between the countries.
President Sandu decried Russia’s brutal Palm Sunday attack on the city of Sumy that killed at least 35 civilians including children. Addressing the attack she wrote:
"Today, on Palm Sunday, when Christians gather in prayer for peace, Russia has chosen to sow death. The Ukrainian city of Sumy has been brutally struck by a new Russian attack. Dozens of families are now mourning the loss of their loved ones.”
"The pain of our neighbors is also our pain. Let us cherish the peace we have at home. Let us pray for those who protect it and remain united in faith, in dignity and in the defense of life,"
Moldova and Ukraine have agreed to resume the Chisinau - Odesa train for the summer season. The modern train which previously carried tourists to and from the seaside has not operated in the last 3 years. The agreement comes as the leadership of the 2 countries' national railroads discuss deeper cooperation on freight and passenger transit.
President Sandu met with Secretary General of NATO Mark Rutte in Chisinau. The Secretary General is passing through Moldova (presumably to Ukraine). In their meeting they discussed regional security issues as well as Moldova’s 30+ year collaboration with NATO within the Partnership for Peace program. President Sandu’s office put out a statement after the meeting celebrating this relationship with the alliance calling it “a cooperation that respects the constitutional status of neutrality of our country and contributes to increasing the safety of citizens.”
Prime Minister Recean sat for a Russian language interview with Ukrainian journalist Dmitry Gordon. In it he spoke frankly about the country’s security situation and analysis at the beginning of the full scale invasion. The Prime Minister specifically noted that should Russian forces have broken through in the south and taken Odesa “We looked at the scenarios, and I can honestly say that Moldova would have lasted for about 72 hours." Asked concretely if Russia had intended to attack Moldova and occupy Chisinau the Prime Minister was clear that Russia had (and has) no intention to stop at Ukraine. The Prime Minister stated that in the last 3 years Moldova has worked to modernize its armed forces and defense because "neutrality works in a world order where countries respect this neutrality. But this instrument of foreign policy does not protect in any way if someone attacks you.2"
Police Begin Operations to Fine Voters Who Took Bribes
On April 10th police began operations in multiple locations around the country to fine voters who were found to have taken bribes during the last election. Following the first round of the presidential elections last fall police announced that they had information that 140,000 Moldovan voters received money from the Shor network via the PSB Russian banking app. Multiple investigations from ZdG at the time outlined the scope and scale of these election interference efforts, as well as how they worked.
Under this month’s operation, the police are going door to door and contacting voters who received money through the app. Under the law this is an administrative offense that results in a fine of between 25,000 and 37,400 lei3. This fine can be waived by people who turn themselves in or who actively cooperate with the police. There are some indications that police are waiving fines for people who identify the person(s) that recruited them into the Shor network.
An administrative fine works something like a speeding ticket. They can be contested in court but lacking that they are automatically levied based on the evidence collected by the police. If police don’t find someone at home, they leave a summons to come to the station to talk and automatically levy the fine after a certain time period if a person does not show up.
These enforcement actions have been taking place across the country, but have resulted in the greatest uproar in Gagauzia.
The Chairman of the People's Assembly of Gagauzia, Dmitry Konstantinov, has repeatedly stated that the money transferred by Shor to people during the election campaign is "help from friends in Russia" and that there is "nothing illegal" about it. He and various other local leaders in Gagauzia are decrying the fines as authoritarian and calling on people not to cooperate with the police4.
This has been repeated on various Shor-linked social media channels which provide analysis, allegedly from a lawyer, claiming that these fines are not legal. They claim that people should not cooperate with the police.
National Police Chief Viorel Cernăuțanu has stated that 6000 people have been fined so far and that the operation is ongoing.
Crime, Corruption, Shor and Justice News
Here’s a roundup of the other top justice sector stories of the week:
Bashkan Eugenia Gutsul appeared at her latest court hearing with an electronic ankle bracelet. The new accessory follows her recent detention and confinement to house arrest as well as the high profile escapes of 2 Shor MPs. The Bashkan wore a dress to the court hearing and seemed to be prominently displaying the ankle bracelet for the cameras. Typically she wears a pants suit to public events.
On April 11th news site Nokta published an investigation into Bashkan Gutsul’s increasing displays of personal wealth. In it, they analyzed photos and videos of her public appearances before she ran for election, in which she never showed signs of owning or wearing designer clothes or accessories, and those after. They note her recent preference for Fendi, Gucci and Saint Laurent sunglasses (totaling more than €1300), €6500 euro necklaces, €4700 euro gold rings, $1900 Saint Laurent boots and on and on. Nokta estimated that the Bashkan has sported clothing and accessories totaling more than €18,000 euros in recent months. According to Gutsul’s income declaration her husband is unemployed and the family’s only income is her salary totaling 390,000 lei annually. She also reported 48,000 lei alimony from her ex husband and substantial sums donated to her as “gifts” from family and friends. Even so, the accessories they cataloged exceeded 50% of her reported €33,000 euro annual income.
On April 14th the National Integrity Authority (ANI) opened an investigation into Eugenia Gutsul. The agency’s investigation will target the large “gifts” that she reported as well as an evaluation of her reported income and expenditures. The ANI did not directly cite Nokta in their initiation of the investigation but indicated that they would focus on identifying the source of the funds that were later given to her as gifts.
The Constitutional Court has ruled that it is unconstitutional for the People's Assembly of Gagauzia to appoint the region’s chief prosecutor. The ruling comes after a petition from Prosecutor General Ion Munteanu which sought to overturn amendments to the law on the autonomous region’s status. The court ruled that the constitution clearly states that only the Supreme Council of Prosecutors may appoint prosecutors and therefore the long standing laws delegating this authority to the autonomy are unconstitutional. The court noted that the laws governing Gagauzia’s autonomy provide for political, economic and cultural autonomy but not in the area of justice.
Citizens are being targeted with new disinformation campaigns. This week people began receiving messages claiming to be from the State Tax Service reminding them to register to allocate 2% of their taxes to an NGO by the upcoming deadline. The message suggested that since USAID is now gone that people should allocate this money to PAS. It ended with “For Moldova! For Romania! For the EU!5” The messages are not real. Author’s Note: I got one myself from a number registered in the Philippines. At the same time DOGE announced that they were cutting additional US State Department programs focused on fighting disinformation and encouraging societal resilience in the face of information warfare. These cuts target all post-Soviet countries including Moldova.
Veronica Dragalin has made more accusations of political interference in justice. The former Anti-Corruption Prosecutor spoke on TV channel N4 saying that at the very beginning of her tenure in office she warned former Minister of Justice Sergiu Litvinenco, National Anti-Corruption Police (CNA) Director Iulian Rusu and senior CNA official Eugen Rurac to stop “blackmailing judges.” Dragalin said that the CNA had accumulated a large amount of “compromising information” on judges as part of their work preparing information for the pre-vetting and vetting commissions. She claimed that this information was used as leverage against judges to influence court outcomes. Dragalin did not share details about what cases she was referring to. Sergiu Litvinenco “categorically” denied the accusations calling them “lies” and stating that Dragalin is simply an attention seeker. In response to a journalist’s question, Current Minister of Justice Veronica Mihailov-Moraru questioned why Dragalin did not report (or prosecute) these alleged acts at the time. She then pivoted journalists questions to a defense of the vetting process and overall justice reform efforts.
Political Updates
Here’s a roundup of the other top political updates of the week:
Olesea Stamate will retain her seat in parliament, but leave PAS. The MP announced this on her facebook page alongside a continued defense of her actions around the politically disastrous amnesty bill. Stamate was expelled from the PAS party and has announced that she will leave the faction in parliament.
Economics and Infrastructure
Here’s a roundup of the top economic stories of the week:
EBRD is looking to sell the Giurgiulesti International Free Port. European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is seeking an investor to take over the operations of the port. The bank took control of the port in 2021. They announced that they are looking for “reputable investors” to continue investment in port infrastructure and capacity. Last summer the Romanian government indicated interest in buying the port, but no list of potential investors has been announced at this time.
Digitization Reforms - Moldova will seek to host digital nomads. The Ministry of Economy has presented a bill proposing a broad set of reforms to ICT sector regulations. One aspect is to create a new visa category for digital nomads. Tech workers who can prove that they earned 18x the national average salary over the last 6 months (aka an average of $1800 / month) will be able to get a visa for up to 2 years (with extension possible). The ministry produced a study of digital nomads in regional countries and predicts that Moldova could attract up to 1500 such workers. In such a case they project direct and indirect tax revenues of 280 million lei / year. The bill also includes other major reforms including:
Retail “Cash-back” programs - Retailers will be allowed to offer cash back services to purchasers. The ministry argues that this will expand ATM services to smaller towns while incentivizing more rural retailers to accept cards.
Digital receipts - The law will allow for the provision of digital-only receipts and create an email / sms based software system for issuing them.
Increased access to digital financial services - Companies will be permitted to use PayPal, Payoneer, Toptal, UpWork, etc without prior approval from the National Bank.
The above package of reforms was put together over the course of the last year and Newsmaker reports that it has already been approved by the key ministries (including the Ministry of Finance).
This issue of Moldova Matters is supported by Rotary Club Cosmopolitan — Club Secretary Luc Vocks invites you to join an English-speaking (mostly) expat club that meets weekly to hear from engaging speakers and enjoy some light networking. If you're curious to learn more or would like to attend a meeting as a guest, feel free to contact l.vocks@developmentaid.org.
This is a bi-partisan commission of the US House of Representatives that “advances U.S. economic and security interests by fostering stable, effective governance in key regions worldwide.” You can read more about it here.
Recall, Ukraine was an officially neutral country on February 24th, 2022. Just as Moldova is today.
In almost every case reported the lower end (25,000 lei) is being applied. It is also worth noting that all administrative fines are eligible for a 50% discount if they are paid within 3 business days of receiving it.
Author’s Analysis: Of course these fines are legal and being levied according to the law. Many of the voters who took bribes from Shor for their votes are very poor. 25,000 lei is an astonishing amount in a small village - potentially the value of a house. The law is designed such that almost any simple voter can avoid these fines by cooperating and admitting guilt. Messages telling people not to cooperate or to refuse to talk to the police are encouragements for people to take actions that will result in them getting the maximum fine.
The lies that encourage this likely serve 2 purposes for Shor. Firstly, to reduce the number of people cooperating on the investigation. Secondly, to increase the pain felt by some of the poorest most disaffected voters. They have already been spreading disinformation about people supposedly dying after getting a fine. The information war continues, the people are simply collateral.
Adding “For Romania” here is a tactic meant to identify PAS with Romania and particularly unionism. This position is anathema to residents of Gagauzia and for many pro-Russian voters.