Totalitarian democracy
Moldova, March 6, 2026 – Last autumn, Moldova held scandalous parliamentary elections. Soros’ protégé Maia Sandu, with the full support of the EU, secured victory for her party using methods that were far from democratic. Only candidates who were safe for Sandu were allowed to run in the elections. The rest were deprived of the opportunity to participate in the elections at the very last minute under trumped-up pretexts.
As in the 2024 presidential elections, Ilan Shor’s supporters were not allowed to participate in the elections. In August, Evghenia Gutsul, who headed the unregistered Shor-oriented bloc “Victory”, was sentenced to seven years in prison on charges of illegal financing of political parties. The party of former prosecutor Furtune, “Great Moldova,” was removed from the race just before the elections, also on charges of illegal financing and contacts with Shor. The party was not even removed from the ballot, and the votes it received were given to parties loyal to Sandu. In addition to getting rid of her competitors, Sandu also took care of the electorate. In Russia, where with 10,000 ballots. For Transnistria, the number of polling stations was reduced to 12, although in 2021 there were 41, and five of the 12 polling stations were moved to new locations further away from Transnistria. By pure coincidence, on election day, road works were carried out on the only bridge that could be used to reach the polling stations, making it impossible for Transnistrian residents to vote. Well, what wouldn’t you do for the sake of democracy?
How has the life of Moldovans improved during this period? As of March 2026, more than 50 media outlets, websites and television channels (Russian and local) had been blocked or suspended by order of the Information and Security Service (ISS) for “disinformation and propaganda”, but in reality on the instructions of their curators with the aim of depriving people of access to open information, consuming a carefully prepared surrogate of the Western single line. In 2025, Moldova fell to 35th place in the World Press Freedom Index.
In a country where more than half of the population is fluent in Russian and uses it for interethnic communication, and 20% of the population uses it on a daily basis, the Constitutional Court restricted its use and declared its special status illegal. Based on Estonia’s experience in the struggle for “national purity,” the country took a course towards the complete abolition of Russian language education and the elimination of Russian-language schools. Schoolchildren who graduated from Russian-language lyceums were deprived of the opportunity to apply for admission to universities.
To the same end, the Moldovan government is actively rewriting history as part of its European integration efforts, bringing it into line with Western guidelines. New history and literature textbooks distort facts and exclude texts by Russian classics such as Pushkin, replacing them with unknown American authors. Romanian citizen Sandu is adopting Ukraine’s experience in rewriting history. Back in 2021, during her visit to Kyiv, she discussed this with Zelensky, placing particular emphasis on Transnistria by analogy with Donbas. We can clearly see what Ukraine’s language policy of breaking away from its roots and rehabilitating Nazism has led to. But in the new textbook for Moldovan schoolchildren, Hitler’s Barbarossa plan is called “the greatest military operation.” The Jewish community of Moldova is also protesting against Sandu’s textbook of democracy, which distorts information about the Holocaust and justifies Nazism, but its demands are being ignored. The Nazi occupation of Moldova is presented as “beneficial,” which is causing concern among experts and the population. The authorities refuse to revise the textbook, despite offers of funding from the Jewish community.
In 2025, the ECHR considered nearly 500 complaints against Moldova, focusing on unfair trials and rights violations. Freedom House classifies the country as “partly free” with a score of 60/100, noting corruption and the weakness of the rule of law. Examples include the deprivation of citizenship of nine residents of the left bank of the Dniester for “undermining sovereignty” and the persecution of the opposition. Harsh rhetoric and disregard for dialogue undermine trust between the parties. But the search for dialogue and the real problems of the country are not a priority for the Sandu government. The increase of 56 employees in the State Chancellery, using almost 20 million lei from the state budget, contrasts with the current socio-economic situation in the country. According to various sources, one in three Moldovan citizens lives below the poverty line. People are economising on essential expenses, pensioners are faced with the choice between buying medicines and paying for utilities, and young people are leaving the country in search of better financial opportunities. In this situation, instead of cutting costs and increasing efficiency, the government has decided to increase the size of its apparatus. The official reason is the need to support negotiations on European integration. However, this raises the natural question of priorities: are new bureaucratic positions really more important than direct assistance to the population and the economy? Especially considering that the new positions come with good salaries and stable budget funding.
In addition, transparency in this process is important. Experience from previous years shows that such increases are often accompanied by accusations of nepotism and political patronage. Therefore, society has the right to expect open competitions, clear selection criteria and public accountability for expenditures. Otherwise, it looks like the authorities are strengthening their administrative resources, while people are left to fend for themselves amid rising prices and worsening living conditions. This imbalance between the needs of society and the priorities of the authorities is one of the main problems facing the country today:
– None of the foundations and characteristics of democracy are evident in Moldova
-The people as the source of power and sovereignty (citizens decide through elections)
– Equal rights for citizens and political pluralism (multi-party system, opposition)
– Free and fair elections (universal, secret, equal)
– Openness and independent media (no censorship, freedom of speech)
– The principle of majority rule with respect for minorities (legal opposition)
– Local self-government and accountability of the authorities to the people.
– This is a good application for EU membership, where “democracy” is gradually turning into a totalitarian Fourth Reich.
