Weekly Roundup: The Campaign Begins
August 29, 2025
Hello and welcome back to Moldova Matters! A combination of exciting personal news, and the need to focus in on big stories like A7A5, Voronin’s Last Rodeo and Moldova’s historic independence day celebration, has meant that we haven’t had a normal roundup for a record 15 days! Today we’re going to fix that and do a roundup of all the stories that fell through the cracks in that time. Thanks as always for reading, and do consider becoming a paid subscriber if you aren’t already! You still have a few days left to catch the August sale!!
The Campaign (officially) Begins
Today, August 29th is the official start of Moldova’s campaigning period. Elections will be held one month from now on Sunday September 28th. Marking the beginning of the campaign President Maia Sandu stated that “The very fate of Moldova is at stake, and together we have a duty to protect our peace and chance for a better future.” She called on all voters to be vigilant saying:
“Notify the police when you witness electoral corruption, be careful of all the false information, letters, calls, and videos that we will be inundated with in the coming period, help relatives and friends to be informed correctly, and stay united and fair so that Moldova emerges victorious.”
As of this moment there are 21 electoral contestants registered with the Central Election Commission (CEC). That breaks down into 13 political parties, 4 blocs and 4 independent candidates. We’ll have a series of deep dives into this field of contestants as well as the platforms and proposals of the most important parties and blocs in the coming weeks.
It remains *possible* that this field will still change a bit. Vlad Filat’s party PLDM was not registered by the CEC which claimed that they filed incomplete and late paperwork. PLDM sued and yesterday a court ruled that the CEC must re-examine this file. Plahotniuc’s PDMM has also been excluded from the race and is appealing in court. This happened after the Public Services Agency (ASP) informed the CEC that the party’s registration was “temporarily withdrawn.” The agency stated that they were informed by the security services of “potential subversive actions” by PDMM “coordinated by intervening persons subject to international restrictive measures.” This is all code for “Plaha reactivated his political party once he got arrested and that’s not ok.” Party leaders called this move political and announced that they would appeal.
PDMM had been attempting to consolidate Plaha’s team with former Speaker of Parliament Andrian Candu calling on all former colleagues to unite under PDMM, and several mayors defecting from Ion Chicu’s PDCM to PDMM.
With the campaign starting today this also marks the end of the shadow campaign that has been ongoing for most of August. Until now there have been lots of online ads and fliers praising the accomplishments of a party or the importance of EU integration without explicitly calling on people to vote for them.
As of today the campaign is on and these polite fictions and arbitrary distinctions should end.
Election News
Here’s a roundup of the top election related news:
TikTok announced the launch of an “election center” in the app for users in Moldova. This is one aspect of a partnership they announced with the CEC to prevent interference in Moldova’s election. The platform has banned political advertising and is cooperating to remove coordinated disinformation accounts and pages. Their “election center” will host media literacy information created by the fact checking and debunking platform “Stop Fals!” So far there have been no concrete announcements from the American platforms facebook, Google, etc.
CEC announced suspiciously high pre-registrations from Moldovans in Russia. So far 13,000 have registered online, 2x more than 2024. This registration is not required to vote, but is used by the CEC to determine the number of polling stations to open in an area1. CEC officials analyzed the registrations and noted email addresses that only differed by one letter or number. They also contacted some of the registrants who were unaware that they registered in Russia. The CEC noted that in the 2024 election, around 10% of those that registered in Russia actually voted in Moldova - many of them claimed that they had not traveled to Russia in years.
The CEC has decided to open 12 polling stations for the residents of Transnistria2. The Reintegration Bureau reported to the CEC “increasingly visible attempts of external actors to use the region to destabilize the Republic of Moldova” and asked the body to take national security factors into account in their decision. CEC commission members have stated that given past turnout in the last 3 elections 12 stations should be sufficient. This does not quite map onto the turnout data. Past elections have averaged around 550 voters per polling station, this was already far exceeded in 2024 with 876 voters for each of the 30 polling stations opened. A reduction of 30 to 12 will likely exacerbate this issue. Transnistrian “leader” Vadim Krasnoselsky criticized the move saying that if Moldova does not want residents of the region to vote, then they should recognize its independence3. The Socialist Party also criticized the move calling it political. The CEC rejected these accusations with Vice Chairman Pavel Postica calling the sudden interest by the Transnistrian authorities in Moldova’s elections “a concerted action rooted in Chisinau."
A Minister keeps 13 cats in their office? So claimed Alexandr Stoianoglo on a campaign visit to a village in Ungheni. He told the anecdote to farmers in a field implying that such a person (unnamed) was not mentally fit. The “attack” was assumed to target Minister of Education Dan Perciun who responded by writing “Stoianoglo, while he was prosecutor general, dealt with only one thing in his office - the release of Veaceslav Platon. He did not stand out for anything else. He did not even know how to count the money from Dodon's "kuliok." Minister Perciun went on to note that loving animals is a good thing, that he has 4 cats at home and that none of them have ever seen his office. This whole episode launched a thousand memes as people used pictures of their cats to mock Stoianoglo. Maia Sandu got in on the fun as well with a picture of her cat and the post "Joe is shocked by the statements made by some of the candidates."
Did Irina Vlah and Victoria Furtuna travel to Moscow together? The pair were spotted arriving in Chisinau on the same plane from Istanbul on August 14th. Anticoruptie.md reported that they were summoned to Moscow together to receive instructions on their position in the elections. OneTV reported that they met with Sergei Kiriyenko, Russia’s “curator” for Moldova during this campaign, who instructed them not to attack each other and that if anyone were to drop out of the campaign they should support the Patriotic Bloc. This means that if Furtuna were to be blocked from the election as a member of Shor’s network, she should support the Patriotic Bloc Vlah is part of with the Socialists. Both women denied they were in Russia. Two days after returning (from Russia) Furtuna registered her Moldova Mare party to participate in the elections. The CEC later rejected this registration and barred them from the elections citing various violations, including the presence of convicted criminals on the electoral list.
International Affairs
Here’s a roundup of the top international affairs stories of the past 2 weeks:
Canada has leveled new sanctions "in relation to Russia’s malign interference activities in Moldova." This list of sanctions, which was made public on August 28th, targets members of the Shor network and Pobeda Bloc. It includes predictable names - Bashkan Gutsul, Victoria Furtuna, etc, but also one surprise - Irina Vlah. In a statement Canada’s Foreign Ministry asserted that the whole group is associated with Ilan Shor and “coordinated efforts to destabilize the democratically elected government of the Republic of Moldova.” Irina Vlah wrote on her facebook that she was “puzzled” by her inclusion in the list and blamed in on PAS somehow influencing Canada in an attempt to discredit her. It is worth noting that of the 4 leaders of the Patriotic Bloc, Vasile Tarlev is closely tied to Shor, Stoianoglo was supported by the Shor network in the last elections and now Irina Vlah is also alleged (by Canada) to be a member of Shor’s team. Only Igor Dodon does not have a clear connection to Shor, though his credentials regarding Kremlin connections are unimpeachable.
“Decoupling” Moldova and Ukraine’s EU bid. Politico reported on August 15th that the EU was preparing to make this move in order to officially open a negotiating cluster with Moldova in early September. With Viktor Orban blocking Ukraine from moving forward, the decoupling would allow Moldova to progress and give the EU and pro-EU parties in Moldova a major win before the elections. This reporting sparked weeks of debate and political maneuvering, with Ukraine strongly objecting and asserting that such a move would undermine Ukraine’s negotiating position with Trump4. Ultimately, EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Cos put the rumor to bed and asserted that Moldova and Ukraine would remain linked in comments to Moldova 1 on August 28th.
Shor’s Brief “Permanent” Protest
Following Shor’s call for a “permanent” protest in the center of Chisinau and his offer to pay protestors $3000 / month, Ilan Shor and Marina Tauber called people to the central square in Chisinau on August 16th. After Mayor Ion Ceban refused police requests to deny the protesters a permit, the government exercised their priority right to book the square and hastily organized a "Safe Vacation" event on August 16th. This involved a set of demonstrations of tactics and equipment from the police, rescue workers, firefighters and military. Basically, an unusually well armed public service fair.
Marina Tauber, who is a fugitive residing in Russia, responded saying that she was furious not to be invited to the Primaria (mayor’s office) to discuss who gets the square. The authorities noted that she didn’t even officially apply, as you can make such applications in person or with a valid e-signature. She sent a scanned document5.
Shor pivoted and called his “permanent protest” to the Chisinau train station where paid protestors began setting up tents on the station platform.
Police quickly moved in and cleared the unsanctioned occupation of the station. The action then spilled into the streets and plaza areas outside of the train station with Shor protestors singing Russian songs, changing “down with Maia Sandu” and engaging in a low grade riot. Some protestors were drinking alcohol and a number tried to block the road and got into confrontations with drivers. The window of one police car was smashed in.
Police detained 69 people and issued 60 citations for paid protesting, 67 citations for traffic violations and 12 citations for acts of hooliganism. They confiscated 76 tents, 4 sleeping bags and an inflatable mattress6. Police described the event saying that protestors…
"provoked drivers who parked their cars nearby, simulating traffic accidents, involved minors in the action, broke the window of a law enforcement officer's car with a stone, carried election materials without documents of origin, tried to disguise tents in suitcases or transport them by taxi."
Additionally, some number of protestors were dressed as mascots. Police detained them citing the need to establish the identities of the people in the suits.
After the protest, police published recordings of wire taps with members of the Shor network discussing setting up the camp for 1 month and paying people $3000 / month base “protesting salary” with additional payments for more provocative actions.
Due to the actions of the police this permanent protest lasted less than a day. Two days later there was a small, largely peaceful protest outside of the Ministry of Internal Affairs where Shor’s people complained about not being allowed to occupy the train station. They protested and then went home without incident. After this, the permanent protest petered out… for now.
Other Shor and Hybrid Warfare News
Here’s a roundup of the other top hybrid war stories of the past 2 weeks:
The UK joins the US in sanctioning A7A5. The combined sanctions created sever pressure for Shor’s crypto currency and decoupled it from the value of the ruble as a panic sale set in. It has since recovered somewhat but trading volumes appear to be significantly reduced.
Shor’s team is resorting to threats to recruit protestors. Police presented evidence of Shor network leaders intimidating and threatening people to get them to go to protests. They are contacting people who previously went to paid protests, but are now reluctant, with messages such as “STRICTLY MANDATORY” and “not subject to discussion.” Police call on anyone so threatened to immediately contact the police who will to ensure their safety.
International lawyers will represent Bashkan Gutsul on appeal. Gonzalo Boye from Spain and William Julliez from France have signed on to join her defense team. They plan to present arguments that the case has been manufactured as a mechanism of political oppression.
Crime, Corruption & Plaha
Here’s a roundup of the top justice related stories of the past weeks:
Alleged traitor Ion Creangă was released from pre-trial detention. Creangă was the former chief of the legal department of the parliamentary secretariat before he was arrested and accused by being a Russian spy. He is alleged to have passed Russia military planning information, elements of Moldova’s EU negotiations, and preparations to pass a new treason law - a law he has now been charged under. He was detained a year ago when he was caught in the act of exchanging secrets for money with Russia’s Military Attache. In July his lawyers convinced the judge to release him on house arrest, and now they have gotten the judge to agree to the removal of his ankle monitor. Creangă has stopped showing up in court, which his lawyers attribute to his health and trips to the hospital. Prosecutors dispute this assertion saying that what medical procedures he is getting done are voluntary and no excuse to miss court.
Fugitive oligarch Veaceslav Platon’s son, Egor Platon, was detained In Spain on the basis of an Interpol warrant. He was wanted for charges related to drug trafficking. It’s unclear which country charged him and is seeking his extradition, but it is possibly related to a 2019 arrest in Moldova.
Plahotniuc was filmed exiting a police van in handcuffs in Greece. A judge approved a second extradition request from Moldova, but the decision must still be ratified by the country’s Ministry of Justice.
The government bought the right to the film “Jackals” and renamed it “Plaha.” On August 6th the government paid 2.5 million lei for the distribution rights to an upcoming film entitled “Jackals.” The film chronicles the gangster career of Plahotniuc, including trafficking of children, money laundering and eventually state capture. Shortly after the government purchased the rights to show the film and promote it at cultural and educational events, it began to be advertised by Journal TV under the title “Plaha.” Experts who spoke to NewsMaker noted that this decision seems political, and in addition to reminding people about the time Plahotniuc captured the country, may be targeting the political parties linked to him - PDMM, PSDE and Respect Moldova. Government spokesman Daniel Voda pushed back on this characterization saying:
"We understand that the film can be interpreted in a political context, and we respect these points of view, but the film was shot a long time ago, and we always try to support Moldovan cinema. This film is about how oligarchs are trying to seize the institutions of power and how to resist this. I think this topic is very relevant in the context of the development of democracy and pluralism of opinions,"
Moldova Hit a Renewable Energy Milestone
On August 23rd nearly 100% of the power consumed in Moldova at 12:00 pm came from renewable energy sources. At that time the country only imported 0.5 MW from Romania. This milestone comes as record after record has been set and reset over the course of this spring as Moldova adds lots of renewable generation capacity. We’ll take a deep dive into this process, how it came about and where it is going, in a dedicated article soon.
Polling stations in Russia have been severely limited since the start of the war - basically to the Embassy and consulates. The high number of registrations is likely designed to create a narrative of voter suppression, not in the actual expectation that the CEC will open more locations.
Quick note: these polling stations are not opened in Transnistrian territory. Residents have to travel to Moldovan controlled territory to vote.
Logically, if Moldova did open lots of polling stations he would simply resign and stop pretending to be an independent nation - right?
Ukraine noted, correctly, that both Russia and the United States / Trump Administration see EU membership as one of the security guarantees that Ukraine could get in the future. Separating Moldova and Ukraine publicly admits that Europe is split on Ukraine’s EU membership, and therefore split on its future security.
Anyone who knows anything about Moldova knows that this is laughably inadmissible.
I love the thought that one dude just really wanted to be comfy.