WHEN Moldova became the first Eastern Partnership country to ratify its association agreement with the European Union last week, many in Chisinau celebrated a milestone. But further from the capital city, in the ethnically concentrated regions that comprise much of Moldova’s countryside, the news struck a raw nerve. Local authorities see EU standards subverting the regional powers they enjoy, at least on paper. Resistance to this erosion of their power is fuelling another battle in the EU-Russia information war, as minorities of all origins deploy increasingly radical pro-Russian rhetoric. In the parts of Moldova where the young tend to sport the orange-and-black St George’s ribbon, a sign of military valour in modern Russia, rather than the gold-starred blue EU flag, political rhetoric has taken a tone of mutual suspicion. “Moldova Could Have Its Own Donbas” in reaction to the association agreement, says
Nezavisimaya Gazeta, a Russian newspaper of dubious editorial independence. The article refers to Gagauzia, the predominantly Orthodox Turkic autonomous region in southern Moldova. And it is not only the...
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