Foreign Affairs Friday: Not Dead Yet

In early April, protests in Moldova erupted over the results of that country's election, which kept the Communist party in power. Protesters believed that there were electoral shenanigans, and that the Communists are responsible for Moldova's failure to join in the economic growth and freedom seen in the rest of Eastern Europe since the fall of the USSR (Freedom House profile here). These protests made heavy use of Twitter for publicity and communication.

I have a bit of interest in this situation, because we have had a worker from Moldova come help out during the last few years. It is the poor economic situation there that motivated him to come to the US. I am also interested in seeing freedom and democracy spread.

However, it looked like little would come from the protests. Russia backs the Communist government, and it was not likely that anyone, such as Romania, would take a stand against Russia for Moldova's stake. So after a couple days, the protests died down, although some violence was required.

Now, however, the new Moldovan parliament has been unable to elect a president, so new elections will be needed. It looks like these elections will take place in a 2-3 months. Here's hoping that the spirit of the protesters will be carried into the voting booth, and change will come to Moldova.