Moldova's 2024 elections: A crossroad for European integration
National publications are summarizing the year 2024, a year marked by elections of geostrategic importance in several countries across the globe.
Media outlets also highlight the major challenges anticipated for the coming year.
2024 was a super-electoral year, with nearly half of the global population called to the polls, notes Ziarul de Gardă. In the Republic of Moldova (RM), the stakes of the presidential elections, dominated by unprecedented Russian influence, were essentially about the country's future direction, the publication observes.
The October 20 referendum marked a significant geopolitical confrontation on the territory of the Republic of Moldova in 2024, with direct interference from the Russian Federation, which views the European integration of any post-Soviet state as unacceptable, as it undermines its goal of re-establishing the USSR, concludes columnist Nicolae Negru in Ziarul Național.
Maia Sandu's re-election as President of the Republic of Moldova, following the country's attainment of EU candidate status and the initiation of negotiations with the EU, confirmed the geopolitical preference expressed by the majority of citizens during the referendum, notes the author.
According to Nicolae Negru, as in previous years, since February 24, 2022, the heroes of the year continue to be the Ukrainian people and army. By valiantly resisting the Russian hordes, Ukrainians are defending not only the RM but all of Europe as well, underscores the Ziarul Național columnist.
Former Defense Minister Anatol Șalaru declared in a TV8 broadcast that "if Ukraine loses this war and falls, Russian tanks will reach Chișinău."
Deschide.md headlines: "Transnistria at a Crossroads: Russia’s Economic Withdrawal and the Opportunity for Historical Reorientation." The Russian Federation seems to be retracting its economic and political support for the separatist regimes it has backed for decades, including in Transnistria, Abkhazia, and Nagorno-Karabakh, points out the article’s author.
The shortage of gas and electricity in Transnistria signals a significant shift in Moscow’s policy, and in this context, the region's population faces a historic opportunity to reshape its future, breaking free from Russia’s influence and drawing closer to the Republic of Moldova and the European market, points out Deschide.md.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
