🎂 Moldova Defies the Kremlin — and a Glimmer of Gaza Peace

From a pro-EU majority in Chișinău to tentative steps in Washington, rare good news in a region battered by war, meddling, and mistrust.

Sep 29, 2025

A supporter of the pro-EU Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) draped in the Moldovan flag smiles as he checks results on a phone after the polls closed for the parliamentary election, at Chisinau, Moldova, September 28, 2025. AP/Vadim Ghirda

🎥 Intro

Welcome to a shorter-than-usual World Briefing — partly because I’m on the move, and partly because today happens to be my birthday. But it’s also a day of celebration for another reason: Moldova has just pulled off something remarkable. Against the backdrop of massive Russian disinformation campaigns, manipulation, and millions of Kremlin dollars flooding into the country, Moldovans voted peacefully and handed President Maia Sandu’s pro-European PAS party a comfortable majority in Parliament. It’s an achievement worth applauding — proof that people in the region are not so easily swayed by hybrid warfare. This resilience should inspire Ukraine, Moldova’s very big and very important neighbor, as it continues its own struggle.

And perhaps, just perhaps, there’s reason for cautious optimism elsewhere. After a White House meeting between President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, it’s possible we came a step closer to a peace deal in Gaza. But it remains a long, long way off — especially as Netanyahu shows no willingness whatsoever for a two-state solution or for real peace in the West Bank and Gaza. Skepticism is more than justified, but it’s notable that steps, however small, are being taken.

And since it’s my birthday, if you’d like to honor the occasion, there’s no better time than now to either upgrade to a paid subscription or refer someone else to World Briefing — whether as a complimentary or paid subscriber. It would really help me grow this readership, strengthen the base, and most importantly, support independent commentary and journalism. It means a lot to me, and I celebrate all of you — my readers. My biggest wish today is simple: peace in the many conflict zones around the world that are still depriving people of freedom, rights, and the basic chance to be happy.

The pro-Europe ruling party of Moldova hailed its major victory over the Russia-friendly opposition in a weekend election, a win that will keep the small, impoverished nation on a European path instead of drifting back toward the Kremlin. According to preliminary results, President Maia Sandu’s Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) had just over 50 percent of the vote to take 55 of parliament’s 101 seats. The pro-Russia Patriotic Bloc placed second with 24.6 percent, according to the country’s election commission, taking 26 seats. Only five parties recorded enough votes to gain seats in the legislature. More than 1.5 million Moldovans cast ballots in the elections amid widespread reports of campaign meddling by the Kremlin, which denied the allegations. “Russia threw everything dirty it had into the fight... It’s not only PAS that won the elections, the people won,” Igor Grosu, leader of PAS, told reporters on September 29. Sandu is now tasked with nominating a prime minister -- widely expected to be incumbent Dorin Recean -- who can then try to form a new government. Meanwhile, the Kremlin’s online army of disinformation bots has used fake accounts and networks, often AI-generated, to flood social media with pro-Russian narratives and unsubstantiated claims of fraud.

“Moldova is the only democratic country in the region where the ruling party, after four years in power and despite the country going through major crises — COVID, Russia’s war of aggression, the refugee crisis — has not paid an electoral price, almost preserving its number of parliamentary seats,” Armand Gosu, a professor of political science at the University of Bucharest, told RFE/RL’s Moldovan service. The local human rights watchdog Promo-LEX reported hundreds of election incidents, including group voting, electoral advertising inside polling stations, organized voter transportation, and breaches of voting secrecy.

Bomb threats at several polling stations inside and outside Moldova were reported throughout the day. The incidents occurred in Italy, Romania, Spain, and the United States - RFE/RL

“Moldova’s pro-European victory is a lesson for all Europe on how to defend against Russian interference,” vice president of the European People’s Party, Siegfried Muresan

After Gaza peace talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, US President Donald Trump says a deal is “beyond very close.” Both leaders offer their support for the 20-point peace plan released by the White House, while Hamas says it has not formally been sent the proposal. Trump says that Netanyahu will have US backing to “do what he has to do” to “destroy” Hamas if the group does not agree to the plan. If Hamas rejects the plan or doesn’t follow through, Netanyahu says Israel “will finish the job”. The proposed plan includes a “board of peace” to oversee its implementation, headed by Trump, who says former British Prime Minister Tony Blair also wants to participate. Earlier at the White House, Netanyahu called Qatar’s leader and apologised for Israel’s strike on Doha earlier this month, BBC’s US partner CBS reports - BBC

President Trump’s framework for ending the war in Gaza includes a line that keeps open the future possibility for a Palestinian state under certain conditions, which “we recognize as the aspiration of the Palestinian people.” Many Palestinians most likely will see such a distant and vague prospect of independence as not nearly enough. But even that symbolic commitment could prove a sticking point for the right-wing Israeli government; Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has repeatedly vowed not to allow the establishment of a Palestinian state - NYT

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius expressed skepticism about the concept of a “drone wall” to protect eastern countries against Russian aerial incursions — a project currently being pushed hard by the European Commission. “I very much appreciate the idea of a drone wall, but we should pay attention to manage expectations. We are not talking about a concept that will be realized in the next three or four years,” he said at a panel at the Warsaw Security Forum that included EU Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius. “We have to think and act in priorities and there are others, I think. We need more capabilities and more capacities,” the German minister added. “Drone defense, of course, but not by a drone wall,” he stressed, adding that the priority is to make sure that development and procurement processes are flexible enough because of how fast the technology is evolving. His comments come as drones violated Polish, Romanian, Danish and Norwegian airspace in the past weeks; Russian fighter jets also crossed into Estonian airspace before being chased off. That’s increasing pressure on NATO and the EU to respond. Last week, Kubilius hosted a meeting with eastern flank countries, including Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia to discuss a drone wall. He has previously said that such a project could be ready in a year; the Commission is working on the scheme’s technical and financial details. The drone wall plan will be on the agenda of Wednesday’s informal meeting of European leaders in Copenhagen - Politico

Canadian residents are barred from buying tickets to the Jays’ potential American League Division Series matchup next week at Yankee Stadium. The AL East-winning Jays are skipping Major League Baseball’s wild-card round and advancing directly to the AL Division Series. They’ll host the winners of the best-of-three wild-card series between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, which starts Tuesday. The Jays and their New York rivals finished the regular season on Sunday with the same record of 94 wins and 68 losses. Toronto claimed the division crown by holding the tiebreaker over the Yankees. On Tuesday, Oct. 7, the ALDS will move from Toronto to either the Bronx or Boston for game 3. However, fans logging on to Ticketmaster to buy tickets for game 3 or a potential game 4 in New York are being met with a message warning that sales are “restricted to residents of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania.” The Ticketmaster message says residency will be based on the buyer’s credit card billing address. Sales to fans from outside those four states “will be cancelled without notice and refunds given.” A Yankees representative told CBC News that the policy, which allows sales to residents of only four states, is meant to fight ticket scalping. The policy also applies to the wild-card round. Red Sox fans have voiced their anger on X. “Hey @MLB this is kind of ridiculous,” one user posted on X Monday afternoon. “Bunch of scare bears,” wrote Brian “Rear Admiral” McGonagle, a Boston-based producer of the Spittin’ Chiclets hockey podcast. Canadian-based Blue Jays fans won’t face the same issue if the Red Sox beat the Yankees and advance to face Toronto in the next rounds - CBC