Reflections Post Parliamentary Elections 2025

The result achieved by us, the people of the Republic of Moldova, means support for Ukraine — we have not betrayed those who are fighting under moscow’s bloody aggression. Betraying our pro-European path would have been, first and foremost, a betrayal of them. Had we allowed a pro-russian parliamentary majority coalition, we would have facilitated corridors and conditions that could have expanded russia’s capabilities in the region, including increased pressure on Odesa and the Black Sea coast.

🎯 This is not just geopolitics — it is a matter of regional security.

But this result also carries several important messages for Ukraine:

- A predictable neighbor and ally, firmly staying on the European path, thus strengthening Kyiv’s diplomatic and moral front.

- A message of regional unity — Moldova demonstrates that even in the face of putin’s pressure and local collaborators, society can choose the path of democracy and European integration.

- A signal to international partners — support for Ukraine is not only declarative, but confirmed through a popular vote that rejects russia’s dangerous and pathological imperialism.

- A guarantee of resilience — a pro-European Moldova reduces the risk of Ukraine being encircled politically and militarily at its western border.

🙏 The outcome of these elections is about more than us. It is a vital piece of the puzzle of regional security and freedom.

Для всіх українських колег і друзів, вітаю вас! Ми залишаємося твердими на своїх позиціях і продовжуємо боротися разом! 🇲🇩🤝🇺🇦

If the fear that was instilled in people had taken over, we would have achieved nothing. Let us not forget that moscow operates with well-crafted methods — trying everything to see what works: intimidation, manipulation, disinformation, electoral corruption, and so many more.

But fear must never become the factor that inhibits our participation, pushes us toward accommodation, or makes us “play it safe.”

📌 Studies show that fear has a double power:

- It can paralyze and lead to passivity, when people feel powerless.

- But it can also become a catalyst for action, when it is understood and transformed into collective courage.

Totalitarian regimes rely precisely on the first effect — paralyzing fear.

Democracies survive and thrive through the second — communities that turn fear into solidarity and action.

👉 The 2025 Moldova parliamentary elections proved that we did not give in to fear. Participation, courage, and trust in the strength of community overcame moscow’s attempts, and those of its local collaborators, to sow intimidation.

Fear does not define us. Choice and action define us.

There are always people who choose to “play it safe”: they don’t get involved, don’t take clear positions, don’t say anything in public; or, if they did during these elections, it was only in private conversations, often echoing kremlin-like undertones (“if only you knew what PAS or X, Y, Z are really doing”). More often, they simply watch from the shadows.

And yet, once results are in, these very people start looking for ways to align with the winners, whichever side that may be.

📌 Scientifically, this behavior is described as adaptive opportunism.

- In social psychology, opportunists avoid risk and protect personal interests through strategic conformity.

- In organizational theory, opportunism is defined as the “self-interest seeking with guile” (Williamson, 1985), a lack of commitment to shared values, with purely tactical adaptation to whoever holds power.

- In political science, this behavior is associated with a lack of principles and with “wait-and-see politics”, which undermines civic cohesion and trust in institutions.

The problem with opportunists is that in the short term they may seem harmless. But in the long run, they erode collective trust and participatory culture.

⚠️ If everyone were to just wait and see who wins, without engagement and without courage, democracy would collapse.

👉 Moldova 2025 elections, however, showed something different: thousands of people did not wait in the shadows. They worked, they engaged, they mobilized. And they proved that the future is not built by opportunists, but by those willing to take the risk of speaking the truth, standing on the right side of history, and acting when it matters.

Opportunism does not define us. Courage and engagement define us.

The latest Eurobarometer gives us figures we cannot ignore:

🇪🇺 For Moldova, 48% of EU respondents support accession (conditional on meeting all criteria). Yet 40% are opposed.

🇲🇩 🇸🇪 🇷🇴 🇱🇻 Moldova is the most favored candidate in only three Member States: Sweden (75%), Romania (67%), and Latvia (64%).

The reality is clear: in many EU countries, support for enlargement, and by extension, for Moldova, remains fragile.

These numbers tell us that Moldova needs a different kind of diplomacy: sharper, more vigilant, more vocal; more competent and out-of-the-box. If we count the diplomats who have truly adapted to new geopolitical realities, the list is very short. Paris comes to mind — but correct me if I’m wrong if you know other examples!

What needs to happen now:

✅ Active and calibrated diplomacy: not just speeches in Brussels, but concrete actions in European capitals, national parliaments, and civil societies. Stronger presence in national media of EU Member States, and greater visibility for Moldova through diverse mechanisms and practices.

✅ Proactive response to hybrid influence: when diplomatic figures or former ambassadors openly propagate pro-russian messages, wave red flags, campaign for parties aligned with war criminals, and are directly funded by moscow, this must be met with firm measures. That is called betrayal of the homeland.

✅ Systematic lobbying at the national level: enlargement decisions are shaped in national capitals as much as in Brussels. Moldova must be visible in every EU Member State, through national media, high-level events (like the ones we organized in Vienna in 2023 and 2024 —

https://lnkd.in/di8iJ_VW, and a wide range of advocacy initiatives.

✅Diaspora as a diplomatic vector: active diaspora members can act as civic ambassadors of Moldova’s European path. For this, we need a Diaspora Diplomatic Academy to equip and prepare diaspora members with potential for such role, to navigate new geopolitical realities effectively.

✅A Diaspora Barometer: an instrument to consolidate all possible data from and about the diaspora, allowing us to robustly measure its immediate, medium-term, and long-term impact both in EU countries and at home.

👉 If support for Moldova is fragile in many EU countries, then we must act in a strategic and systematic way. The current format and content of our diplomacy are not enough.

Our democratic success is not an endpoint, it is only the beginning.

The campaign for the next elections has already started, and I do not mean just for political parties, but for society as a whole. If we want EU integration to become a reality by 2028, several directions are essential:

✅ Education for Critical Thinking

Moldova urgently needs a mandatory critical thinking curriculum in schools. Research shows that critical thinking skills reduce vulnerability to disinformation and populism. OECD’s PISA 2018 demonstrated that students with strong critical reading skills are much less likely to be misled by fake news. UNESCO highlights media and information literacy as a core democratic competence for the 21st century.

👉 Moldova must build a generation resilient to propaganda, capable of distinguishing facts from manipulation.

(I have worked on critical thinking initiatives and would be glad to share insights on how such a curriculum could look.)

✅ Evidence-Based Public Administration or Data Driven Decision Making (DDDM).

Civil servants at all levels must be trained to make decisions based on data and evidence, not political agendas. Recent studies (World Bank, OECD) show that institutions applying evidence-based policymaking achieve better resource use and higher citizen trust. This is the key to effective and credible governance.

(Earlier this year, I conducted research and piloted a practical decision-making algorithm with several public institutions in Azerbaijan, happy to exchange more on this.)

✅ Strong Local Communities (Local Open Government)

In villages and small towns, politics must become truly participatory. Democracy is not exercised only on election day but daily, through inclusive community engagement, particularly with marginalized groups. The Council of Europe emphasizes that participatory democracy at the local level strengthens social cohesion and the legitimacy of public decisions. Door-to-door meetings, community assemblies, and participatory budgeting are just a few tools to make this a reality. My many years in open government agenda have helped accumulate a lot of experience.

✅ Security and the Question of Neutrality

Moldova’s constitutional neutrality, imposed in 1994 under russian geopolitical pressure, must now be discussed openly and realistically. Security studies (e.g., RAND, Chatham House) show that neutrality is effective only if respected by neighbors and guaranteed internationally. In the context of russia’s aggression against Ukraine, this status offers no real security guarantees, quite the opposite.

👉 It is time to seriously debate the relevance and viability of neutrality for a

Moldova that aspires to EU membership and long-term security.

🇪🇺 🇲🇩 EU integration by 2028 is not a dream, it is a test of our collective maturity. Our chance depends on what we start doing today.

It is often said that small countries should “learn democracy” from larger and more established states. At least that is the message many of us have heard repeatedly in training programs and international exchanges over the years.

But yesterday’s elections show the opposite: Moldova now has lessons to offer — including for the US and EU states where the far right is gaining ground.

✅ In Moldova, despite a massive, heavily financed campaign of disinformation, manipulation, and intimidation orchestrated directly from moscow, citizens defended the pro-European course.

Unlike in many Western countries where populist and extremist parties grow by exploiting fear and resentment, Moldovans demonstrated that fear can be transformed into solidarity and participation.

✅ Political science research (Norris & Inglehart, Cultural Backlash, 2019) shows that the rise of the far right stems from cultural insecurity and disillusionment with institutions. Moldova, with far weaker institutions and much higher external pressure, nonetheless managed to generate democratic mobilization rather than retreat into populism.

👉 Our lesson from Moldova is this: Democracy is not about the “luxury” of stability. It is about the ability to mobilize citizens in the face of fear and manipulation. It requires constant vigilance, awareness of destructive forces, and the courage to act collectively when it matters most.

Today, those in the West who choose the far right out of complacency or disillusionment should look to a small country on the EU’s edge, where people vote with security in mind, with solidarity for Ukrainian neighbors dying under Putin’s missiles, and with hope for their children’s European future.

❓ An uncomfortable question for the US and Europe: If Moldovans, with limited resources and under constant pressure, can defend democratic values, what excuse do wealthy and stable societies have for turning to the far right?