Moldovan presidential elections driven by insecurity not geopolitics: President-elect Sandu may have found a cure against populism

Dumitru Minzarari

No 59/2020, SWP Comments from Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP), German Institute for International and Security Affairs

Abstract: World media have hailed the victory of Maia Sandu in the Moldovan presidential elec­tions on 15 November. They celebrated it as a triumph of democracy and pro-Western preferences over post-Soviet cronyism, authoritarianism and Russian apologists. The reality is more complex while there are few reasons for optimism. Sandu's victory is a fragile one as the conditions that delivered it were temporary only. However, she may have unwittingly discovered how to attract voters who traditionally preferred Russia-backed candidates. The EU would benefit by learning from this accidental solution, which is of value regionwide, and deriving from it a thought-out strategy to more effectively support and protect genuine democratic transformation in Moldova and the post-Soviet area.

Date: 2020
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:swpcom:592020

DOI: 10.18449/2020C59

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