Foreign Digest: Russian and Serbian Interference in Moldova and Montenegro

Moldova: Moldova has reported heavy Russian interference in the Moldovan parliamentary elections this week and has conducted hundreds of searches and scores of arrests. Russia’s interference includes cyberattacks, fake news, influencing polls, bribing voters in the Moldovan diaspora, intimidation, and even training to cause riots. Moldovans and Romanians were trained in Moldova and Serbia. Orthodox Serbia is a traditional ally of Russia. The Serbian opposition validated the Moldovan accusations about training Moldovans and Romanians to riot against the Moldovan government on election day, and Serbia did arrest two Serbs for conducting the training. The Russian interference in Moldova also included paying Orthodox Priests to preach against the West. Russia’s interference is an attempt to disrupt Moldova’s accession to the European Union. The fake news is disinformation aimed against the West and the EU and in favor of cultural and religious ties with Russia. Moldova is a former Soviet Republic. Russian troops occupy a breakaway territory populated by Russian-speakers. Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin is a former Soviet intelligence officer who is trying to restore the Soviet Union. Montenegro: Montenegro’s only fact-checking platform cites disinformation from Russia and neighboring Serbia as attempting to undermine the former Yugoslav Republic’s integration with the European Union, versus being oriented toward Russia. Serbia had dominated Yugoslavia under Communist rule, until its breakup began in 1991, which led to several wars as the Communist Serbian dictator fomented Serb nationalism, both in Serbia and the other former Yugoslav Republics that became independent. The German Federal Information Office also identified Serbia as the reginal hub for disinformation and misleading information.