A woman walks past electoral posters advertising the candidates of the Socialists' Party in Chisinau, Moldova, on Feb. 21 ahead of parliamentary elections. (Vadim Ghirda/AP)After Moldova’s elections in February, the country’s leading oligarch, Vladimir Plahotniuc, thought he had things sewn up. Following the elections, Russian television’s First Channel aired an entire report on the subject. He appeared to warn President Igor Dodon and the Moldovan Socialists, which openly rely on Kremlin support, against forming a coalition with Plahotniuc’s Democratic Party. Moldova’s politics frozenAfter it became clear that Moscow had vetoed a Socialist-Democrat coalition, Plahotniuc was forced to try to form a government with a new, more genuinely pro-E.U.

Source: Washington Post May 20, 2019 10:00 UTC