Moldova's pro-European presidential result is significant. Russia spent years cultivating influence in Chisinau through energy dependency, propaganda and political financing. The vote suggests that model has limits. The post-Soviet sphere is not as durable as Moscow assumed.
Before Ukraine, Russia called it peacekeeping. Before Georgia, it cited minority protection. Now the same language is being applied to Moldova. The playbook is not new — the occupation accusation precedes the intervention. Moldova is being prepared, not merely threatened.
