Press Review // Parliamentary elections may take place on September 28; PM Dorin Recean urges anti-corruption institutions to act
Prime Minister Dorin Recean has called on institutions involved in the fight against corruption. Meanwhile, Brussels has extended sanctions against fugitive oligarchs Vladimir Plahotniuc and Ilan Șor. Additionally, there is an investigation into how the Râșcani District Council distributed firewood to deceased individuals and residents of apartment buildings. These are the main headlines covered by the media.
The fight against corruption is not a bureaucratic exercise, and any unjustified delay, blockage or passing of responsibility from one person to another means a slowdown in the process of combating corruption and this cannot be tolerated. This is the message of Prime Minister Dorin Recean, sent to the institutions engaged in the fight against corruption, writes TV 8. The head of the cabinet of ministers admits that around the parliamentary elections there will be new attempts to buy votes, recalling the example of the previous election, when there were numerous cases of electoral bribery, with over 140 thousand citizens being documented.
In fact, the parliamentary elections could be organized on September 28, headlines Moldova 1 TV. A draft resolution in this regard was registered in Parliament by the deputies of the Action and Solidarity Party. According to the provisions of the Electoral Code and the Constitution, the parliamentary elections in the Republic of Moldova must be organized no later than three months after the expiration of the mandate of the current legislative, that is, no later than October 26.
Moldova 1 TV writes that our country is targeted the most by Russian propaganda from the "Pravda" disinformation network. Data from a new report by the Disinformation Observatory shows that in the period December 2024 - March 2025, 11,250 pro-Kremlin articles were published per million inhabitants, which represents a volume over 18 times higher than in Romania and 56 times higher than the average in Western European countries. The editor-in-chief of the Stopfals.md portal, Mihai Avasiloaie, states that in this way, Russia is trying to influence the parliamentary elections and the European path of our country.
The European Union extends sanctions against fugitive oligarchs Vladimir Plahotniuc and Ilan Shor and their associates for another year, headlines Free Europe. At the same time, Brussels rejects the letters in which several requested the lifting of the sanctions. The decision is to be adopted at the level of EU ambassadors. Among those whose sanctions are now extended are: MP Marina Tauber, former candidate for the Balti Mayoralty, Arina Corșicova, the administrator of televisions affiliated with Șor, Dumitru Chitoroagă. In its decision, the EU reaffirms its “firm” support for the Republic of Moldova and its resilience in the face of destabilization attempts by “external actors”.
On this subject, Radio Chișinău consulted the opinion of the expert in law and security, Alexandru Bot, who believes that the extension of the European Union sanctions demonstrates that the Republic of Moldova is not alone in the fight against the oligarchs who continue to influence national political processes. He believes that the authorities in Chișinău should also activate certain national legal mechanisms against these individuals politically sanctioned at the international level. This is a well-argued court decision, so that it can be extended at the international level.
The visit of NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to Chisinau is more than symbolic, political commentator Nicolae Negru told Ziarul Național. The meeting with President Maia Sandu was not strictly held within the framework of the individual program of the "Partnership for Peace", but real regional security issues were also discussed, in the context of the war in Ukraine", Nicolae Negru said. The political commentator recalled that the last visit of a NATO Secretary General took place in 2008, when Vladimir Voronin's communists were in power. "It is somewhat paradoxical that subsequent pro-European governments have had less contact with NATO than the communist government led by Voronin", Nicolae Negru said.
The presidential elections in Romania will mark the future of relations with the Republic of Moldova, believes the Ambassador of the Republic of Moldova to Bucharest, Victor Chirilă. In an interview for IPN, the diplomat stressed the importance of Moldovans with dual citizenship going to the polls to elect the president of Romania. The result of the presidential elections in Romania will directly affect relations between the two banks of the Prut. “If a pro-European president is elected, we will continue to have high collaboration at all levels, and if a president with conservative, populist tendencies is elected, as is fashionable now, the developments could be uncertain,” Victor Chirilă said.
The “Budget Plus” program, promoted by the new government, could widen the budget deficit by 4 billion lei compared to the previously approved one. Mold-street.com offers the analysis of economists from the Expert-Grup Center, who identified several irregularities in its approval, such as the lack of transparency, and note that the project has electoral connotations. An example is the renovation of several courtyards in the municipality of Chisinau. On the one hand, experts say that it is not clear why only the capital is in the project. On the other hand, this action cannot generate sufficient economic growth to cover the interest that the state is going to pay on the borrowed funds.
In Ziarul de Garda we read the reaction of the Government spokesman, Daniel Vodă, to the criticisms of the Budget +PLUS project. The Government representative says that these are unfounded and calls on “all interested parties to contribute with concrete proposals for its improvement”.
Nordnews.md proposes an investigation into how the Rîșcani District Council allegedly distributed firewood to vulnerable people. In addition to the fact that the lists include people living in the block of flats, the journalists also identified deceased people. They went to several addresses where they talked to the residents who said that they did not even know that they had benefited from the wood, especially since they do not need it, having no stoves in their apartments. In the village of Duruitoarea Nouă, among the beneficiaries were even people who had been dead for several years. The leadership of the Rîșcani district states that the lists were drawn up a long time ago, while all the beneficiaries were alive.
Over 1,300 employees of the Moldovan Railway are to be laid off to save the company from bankruptcy. TVR Moldova writes that this is a 27 percent reduction in staff. According to the interim general director of the railway, the action is part of the restructuring and optimization plan. Most of those dismissed meet retirement conditions. So far, the Moldovan Railway has laid off 306 employees. Currently, the company employs approximately 4,800 people.
The Audiovisual Council does not back the creation of a national public television station in Russian. The draft law on it received a negative opinion from the structure, headlines newsmaker.md. During the meeting on April 16, the representatives of the Board of Directors established the lack of legal clarity of the initiative and the risks involved in launching the Moldova 3 channel "under the pretext of combating disinformation and promoting local and quality content."
