The Impact of Russian State Propaganda on Minority Communities in Moldova
The Impact of Russian State Propaganda on Minority Communities in Moldova

Summary/Abstract: Like many other countries in the Eastern European region, the Republic of Moldova faces a series of new hybrid threats, including issues related to fake news, propaganda, cyber security, and critical infrastructure security. In recent years, there have been concerns about Russia’s use of disinformation as a tool to influence public opinion and sow discord in Moldova. According to a recent study entitled “Resisting Disinformation in Central and Eastern Europe,” Moldova is the most exposed country in Eastern Europe to Russian propaganda, with highly influential Russian-language media, the Russian Orthodox Church, poverty, and lack of trust in the political class.1 Russia’s soft power strategy is expressed mainly through Russian media, which can be largely explained by the nostalgia that Moldovans still feel for certain media content they were attached to in the past. Moldova’s domestic politics has a long tradition of both instability and susceptibility to Russian influence in several aspects. The war in Ukraine has caused multiple vulnerabilities in Moldova, making it more fragile and threatened due to propaganda and Russian media interference in the internal affairs of the Republic of Moldova. The Moldovan government has made efforts to maintain social cohesion, but the media continues to be divided into pro-Russian and pro-Western camps. Minority communities, which often are weakly integrated into Moldovan society, are heavily influenced by powerful oligarchs and populist politicians who promote Russian propaganda and disinformation.

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