Yesterday here in the Republic of Moldova it was Independence Day. I was too busy working to attend any of the celebrations but I did see a rather anemic five-minute firework display from my balcony in the evening. It turns out that the pathetic light show pretty much sums up the state of democracy around…
Tag: nuland
Nuland Endorses Moldova’s Most Hated Politician
Hmm…. this all sounds very familiar. First, the staid New York Times piece: These days, however, it is a different photograph that is rallying support for Moscow’s allies in Europe’s Poorest Country™. It shows a United States assistant secretary of state, Victoria J. Nuland, standing shoulder-to-shoulder in Washington with Vlad Plahotniuc, Moldova’s most-feared figure, a…
USA + RM = BFF 4EVR!!!
Awww, isn’t that sweet? The American embassy in Moldova hung a little corny sign written in Comic Sans font to say how much they “love” Moldova. In fact, they love Moldova so much that they’re sending in the military: Seventeen generals and admirals and one civilian member of the senior executive service from the Department…
Dreaming Overtaking Reality
Oh my. This morning I woke up to read this: Socialist Party chairman Igor Dodon accused Washington of pressing for the “terrible scenario” of the unification of Moldova and Romania and urged a return “home” of tiny, politically fraught Moldova “back in the U.S.S.R.” through membership of the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union. Well, no. Let’s…
Investigating the DNA
Word Count: 2854 Ever since Victoria Nuland decided to discuss the re-instatement of Laura Codruta Kovesi as head of the DNA (the National Anti-Corruption Directorate) last week, I started asking myself, “What do we really know about this agency?”. The short answer is: not a whole hell of a lot. Everyone (who hates corruption that…
