• Leaked 'prank' calls expose top-level corruption in Moldova
• Post-Soviet state's president 'controlled from abroad' - opposition leader
• 20,000 protest in Moldova demanding resignation of pro-West gov't, soaring inflation & energy prices
• 59% of Moldova's citizens believe country is controlled by US or EU forces - poll
• Facing defeat, Kiev regime in desperate bid to expand war regionally and embroil neighbors
• Several thousand people protest against gov't in Moldova, demand resignation of leadership over soaring cost of living
• Western 'colonialism' taking a new victim - Moscow
• How the EU is cracking down on democracy in Moldova
• Russian foreign minister warns Moldova could become 'next Ukraine'
• Pro-West ruling party big loser in Moldovan election
• UN resolution seeks to reignite conflict between Transnistria and Moldova by calling for withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers
• New Prime Minister of Moldova: Russian troops must leave Transnistria, and the region itself must be demilitarized & reintegrated
• South Front Foreign Policy Diary: Unrest in Moldova - another Western imperial 'success'?
• Technologies of Maidan were already applied in Moldova in 2009
• The struggles of Transnistria and Donbass: Historical parallels and possible similar scenarios for the future
• Russian politicians criticize Moldova over deputy PM entry ban
• Poor decisions: Moldova asks NATO for help in withdrawing Russian troops from Transdniestria
• Post-Soviet state's president 'controlled from abroad' - opposition leader
• US-NATO military hardware forced out of Moldova's capital after public outrage ahead of V-DAY celebrations
• Moldova joins anti-Russian coalition: 4 TV channels fined for re-broadcasting Russian programs
• Moldova resumes gas purchases from Russia's Gazprom, just a few months after declaring 'independence' from its supplies
• Moldova the next clash between the West and Russia?
• Eurasian Economic Union summit in Sochi welcomes Moldova into economic superbloc
• Russia against expansionism: Foreign ministry criticizes Romanian PM over Moldova annexation statement
• Ukrainian refugees spare no words on Zelensky gov't, Moldova local calls 1st wave of refugees 'oligarchs'
• Moldovan President turns toward Russia, seeks to scrap EU agreement
• Moldova rejects Kiev's offer to help 'capture' Transnistria, President of Transnistria blames recent terror attacks on Ukraine
• Socialist politicians in Moldova claim president Dodon 'victim of murder attempt'
• Ukrainians forging fake Moldovan passports to gain entry to the EU

"Moldova has set 2030 as the target date for EU Accession.^[186]

Moldova signed the Association Agreement with the European Union in Brussels on 27 June 2014. The signing came after the accord was drafted in Vilnius in November 2013.^[187][188]

Moldova signed the membership application to join the EU on 3 March 2022.^[189] On 23 June 2022, Moldova was officially granted candidate status by EU leaders.^[190] The United Nations Development Programme is also providing assistance to Moldova in implementing the necessary reforms for full accession by 2030.^[191] The European Union's High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell has confirmed that the pathway to accession does not depend upon a resolution of the Transnistria conflict.^[192]

On 27 June, Moldova signed a comprehensive free trade agreement with the European Free Trade Association.^[193] On 28 June 2023, the European Union announced a €1.6 billion support and investment programme for Moldova, as well as confirming reductions in the price of mobile data and voice roaming charges in Moldova by European and Moldovan telecoms operators, as well as Moldova joining the EU's joint gas purchase platform.^[194]

Security

The European Union created a Partnership Mission in Moldova through its Common Security and Defence Policy on 24 April 2023. The mission seeks to support the government of Moldova in countering hybrid threats the country faces as a result of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.^[195]

A memorandum dated 29 March 2023 stated that the mission aims at "enhancing the resilience of Moldova's security sector in the area of crisis management as well as enhancing resilience to hybrid threats, including cybersecurity, and countering foreign information manipulation and interference".^[196] The initial mandate of the mission is expected to be for two years and it will be made up of up to 40 police and customs officers and judicial officials.^{[197][198][199]} Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany, Poland, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Portugal, Romania, and Denmark have all voiced support for the mission.^[198]

On 2 February 2023 Moldova passed a law introducing criminal penalties for separatism, including prison terms. The law continues with penalties for financing and inciting separatism, plotting against Moldova, and collecting and stealing information that could harm the country's sovereignty, independence and integrity.^[200]"

"Especially in France, "the European idea" (l'idée d'Europe) is associated with political values derived from the Age of Enlightenment and the Republicanism growing out of the French Revolution and the Revolutions of 1848 rather than with personal or individual identity formed by culture or ethnicity (let alone a "pan-European" construct including those areas of the continent never affected by 18th-century rationalism or Republicanism).^[2]

The phrase "European values" arises as a political neologism in the 1980s in the context of the project of European integration and the future formation of the European Union. The phrase was popularised by the European Values Study, a long-term research program started in 1981, aiming to document the outlook on "basic human values" in European populations. The project had grown out of a study group on "values and social change in Europe" initiated by Jan Kerkhofs, and Ruud de Moor (Catholic University in Tilburg).^[3] The claim that the people of Europe have a distinctive set of political, economic and social norms and values that are gradually replacing national values has also been named "Europeanism" by McCormick (2010).^[4]

"European values" were contrasted to non-European values in international relations, especially in the East-West dichotomy, "European values" encompassing individualism and the idea of human rights in contrast to Eastern tendencies of collectivism. However, "European values" were also viewed critically, their "darker" side not necessarily leading to more peaceful outcomes in international relations.^[5]

The association of "European values" with European integration as pursued by the European Union came to the fore with the eastern enlargement of the EU in the aftermath of the Cold War. ^[6]

The Treaty of Lisbon (2007) in article 1A lists a number of "values of the Union", including "respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights including the rights of persons belonging to minorities", invoking "a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail".^[7]

The 2012 Eurobarometer survey reported that 49% of those surveyed described the EU member states as "close" in terms of "shared values" (down from 54% in 2008), 42% described them as "different" (up from 34% in 2008).^[8]"

Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced that he will seek reelection. Should he win, it will be his fifth term as head of state.

[...]

The footage from the ceremony shows Zhoga shaking hands with Putin and telling him that the entire Donbass would like him to participate in the election. "Thanks to your actions... we became free, we got the opportunity to choose... You are our president... We are your team, we need you, Russia needs you," he said.

[...]

Zhoga is the commander of the republic's famous Sparta Battalion, which has been defending the DPR against Kiev's forces since 2014. He took over the military post from his son Vladimir, who died at the age of 28 in 2022 while providing cover for the evacuation of civilians near the town of Volnovakha. For his heroic deeds, he was posthumously awarded the title "Hero of Russia."

According to a Public Opinion Foundation (FOM) poll released on Thursday, about 70% of Russian citizens believe that Putin should run for another term in office, with another 15% saying that the incumbent should leave his current post but take a senior government position. Only 8% believe that the Russian leader should leave the political stage altogether.

[...]

Judge Tanya Chutkan's decision to bar Trump from making statements that "target" foreseeable witnesses was held up by a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.

However, the court refined the directive and barred Trump from any statements "made with the intent to materially interfere with, or to cause others to materially interfere with" the direction of the case, The Hill reports.

Special counsel Jack Smith was removed from the list of protected court staff, allowing Trump to make comments about him if he desires.

"We agree with the district court that some aspects of Mr. Trump's public statements pose a significant and imminent threat to the fair and orderly adjudication of the ongoing criminal proceeding, warranting a speech-constraining protective order. The district court's order, however, sweeps in more protected speech than is necessary," the panel wrote.