Is Moldova the next Ukraine? Why the EU must address the concerns of Moldova’s Russian-speaking minority

Following a high-profile banking scandal which involved politicians siding with pro-European positions, support for the EU has plunged among Moldovans, while Russia’s popularity has soared. But can similar unrest to that which emerged in Ukraine be avoided? Alexander Tabachnik and Nadav Kedem argue that the EU ought to reengage Moldova through its civil society rather than its elite, and that it needs to take into serious consideration the concerns of the country’s Russian-speaking minority – especially in separatist Transnistria.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Wiretaps incriminate Moldovan pro-EU leader http://www.europeansources.info/record/wiretaps-incriminate-moldovan-pro-eu-leader/

ESO: Background information: The ‘billion dollar protests’ in Moldova are threatening the survival of the country’s political elite http://www.europeansources.info/record/the-billion-dollar-protests-in-moldova-are-threatening-the-survival-of-the-countrys-political-elite/

ESO: Background information: Moldova banking scandal fuels biggest protest ever http://www.europeansources.info/record/moldova-banking-scandal-fuels-biggest-protest-ever/

ESO: Background information: Waiting for a New Moldova http://www.europeansources.info/record/waiting-for-a-new-moldova/

ESO: Background information: Moldova: Europe's next powder keg? http://www.europeansources.info/record/moldova-europes-next-powder-keg/

EU: EEAS: Moldova http://eeas.europa.eu/moldova/

Deutsche Welle, 01.12.15: Transnistria's explosive inheritance from the Soviet era http://dw.com/p/1HFKo

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