{"id":1258,"date":"2025-06-17T17:21:14","date_gmt":"2025-06-17T17:21:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vegacelis.com\/?p=1258"},"modified":"2025-06-20T10:58:04","modified_gmt":"2025-06-20T10:58:04","slug":"eu-state-pledges-cash-to-moldova-to-counter-russian-threats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vegacelis.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/17\/eu-state-pledges-cash-to-moldova-to-counter-russian-threats\/","title":{"rendered":"EU state pledges cash to Moldova to counter \u2018Russian threats\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Netherlands has promised to $1.7 million to \u201cstrengthen Moldova\u2019s democracy\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Dutch government has announced funding for Moldova aimed at “strengthening… democracy”<\/em> and combating what it described as “Russian hybrid threats” <\/em>to the EU-aspirant.<\/em> The move comes as the ex-Soviet republic’s pro-Western government pursues closer ties with Brussels, amid rising discontent at home.<\/p>\n

Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp shared the pledge to the EU candidate country in a post on X.
<\/em><\/p>\n

“The Netherlands pledges €1.5 million ($1.7 million) to projects aimed at strengthening Moldova’s democracy and institutional resilience and at mitigating its external threats,”<\/em> Veldkamp wrote.
<\/em><\/p>\n

“These projects are also aimed at countering Russian hybrid threats, like disinformation, and preventing electoral corruption,”<\/em> he added.<\/p>\n

Moldova has accelerated its drive toward EU and NATO integration since 2020, when President Maia Sandu, a vocal critic of Russia, came to power. Re-elected last year in a controversial runoff, Sandu has intensified efforts to fast-track Moldova’s EU accession, vowing last month to conclude membership talks by the end of 2027.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"Moldovan
Moldova is becoming a pro-EU police state \u2013 opposition MP<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Sandu’s pro-Western course has triggered mounting domestic pushback, driven by economic discontent, accusations of political repression, and a crackdown on the Moldovan Orthodox Church. Her administration has also been embroiled in a longstanding political standoff with the autonomous region of Gagauzia.<\/p>\n

Tensions flared again this week following an unsanctioned pro-LGBTQ march in Chisinau, where a heavy-handed police response to counter-protesters – some with children or carrying religious icons and crosses – drew sharp criticism. Footage showing officers knocking an Orthodox priest to the ground and forcibly detaining a man holding a child has sparked public outrage.<\/p>\n

Sandu has defended her policies, citing alleged pro-Russian influences, and has launched crackdowns on opposition parties and media outlets that she describes as criminal entities.<\/p>\n

Moscow has dismissed the accusations as baseless and politically motivated.<\/p>\n

Last month, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said EU countries were deliberately inventing and amplifying the myth of a “Russian threat”<\/em> to deflect public attention from their own severe economic problems. The EU’s economic crisis had reached catastrophic proportions largely due to the West’s own sanctions against Russia, she added.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Netherlands has promised to $1.7 million to \u201cstrengthen Moldova\u2019s democracy\u201d The Dutch government has announced funding for Moldova aimed at “strengthening… democracy” and combating what it described as “Russian hybrid threats” to the EU-aspirant. The move comes as the ex-Soviet republic’s pro-Western government pursues closer ties with Brussels, amid rising discontent at home. Dutch Foreign Minister […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1260,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vegacelis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vegacelis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vegacelis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vegacelis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vegacelis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1258"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/vegacelis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1262,"href":"https:\/\/vegacelis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1258\/revisions\/1262"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vegacelis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vegacelis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vegacelis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vegacelis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}