Worldcrunch
👋 Sawubona!* Welcome to Monday, where U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House, Russian attacks on Ukraine kill at least four, and today’s quiz question is about next year’s Super Bowl half-time show. Meanwhile, Flavia Perina for Italian daily La Stampa writes about Italian Minister Giorgia Meloni’s not-to-be-overlooked […]
Europe’s fate is also being played out in countries outside the EU, where East and West are battling for influence. In Georgia on Tuesday, the government bowed to pressure from Moscow, and passed a law on “foreign influence” modeled on a Russia law.
Even as questions swirl about whether Zelensky will replace Valery Zaluzhny, commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, the bigger question is Ukraine’s strategy. Rather than liberating occupied territories, Ukrainian forces should be focused on destroying the Russian army. Or put another way: “It is not the big that eat the small, but the fast that eat the slow.”
Beginning with Russia’s annexation of Crimea, Moscow’s actions against its supposed “brotherly” neighbors have yielded decidedly mixed results. Yet there are certain outcomes of Russian aggression against Ukraine that have weakened the West and the post-Cold War global order.
Europe’s leaders are in Moldova as tensions increase with Russia and in Kosovo. The summit is already making an impact as Europe pushes back against Russian interference.
Chairman of the Parliament of Moldova Igor Grosu has announced the nation’s withdrawal from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States. Will Moldova succeed in making a final break with Russia?
“We are realists, and therefore we do not believe in the possibility of a compromise between freedom and slavery…” Poland’s foreign minister has outlined what the country’s foreign strategy will look like in the coming years, built on support of Ukraine and steadfast resistance to the Russian aggressors.
Recent protests in Moldova confirm that the ex-Soviet country is in the Kremlin’s sights. If Putin manages to politically destabilize the ex-Soviet country, he could win an important ally in the war against Ukraine. The tactics are strikingly familiar to what the Kremlin pulled off in Donbas nine years ago.
Moldovan President Maia Sandu has warned that Russia aims to install a pro-Kremlin leadership in the former Soviet country across the border from Ukraine. Vladimir Putin has both the means and desire to do so.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned Russia’s strike Wednesday on a maternity ward in southern Ukraine that killed a baby born two days ago. The newborn’s mother and a doctor were pulled from the rubble of the hospital in Vilnyansk, located in the Zaporizhzhia region. [shortcode-Subscribe-to-Ukraine-daily-box] The morning strike was part of what appears to be […]
The breakaway republic of Transnistria declared its independence 30 years ago, but not even Russia recognizes it as a country. Transnistria is both nostalgic for the Soviet era and prosperous thanks to Russian funds. And a trip there is the closest you can get to visiting the USSR.
After weeks of raging battles, it appears Severodonetsk is set to fall under full control of Russian forces. The governor of the Luhansk region, Serhiy Haidai wrote on Telegram that Ukrainian forces will have to withdraw from the strategic city in southeastern Ukraine. Stay up-to-date with the latest on the Russia-Ukraine war, with our exclusive […]
The prospects of Ukraine and other countries joining the EU force Europe to rethink the very basic way it functions. This moment of crisis can be a bonafide opportunity for the European Union, but will require a level of courage and ambition that has been lacking.
After the fall of Mariupol, Vladimir Putin appears to have his eye on another iconic southern coastal city, with a strong identity and strategic location.
An exclusive visit inside Moldova’s breakaway pro-Russian republic of Transnistria, which many fear may be the gateway to the next war after Ukraine in the strategically important target.
Last year’s election of reformist president Maia Sandu was the first step. But now the anti-graft, pro-Europe forces are about to dominate the Parliament. But what will it look like on the ground?
As parliamentary elections nears, voter frustrations are fueling a campaign in the landlocked, former Soviet republic, to integrate with Romania and the EU.
CHISINAU — The tent city in the center of Moldova“s capital sprung up the evening of Sept. 6, just after a downtown protest had drawn thousands. The demonstrators decided on the spot to stay until they could claim victory; and by nightfall, a few dozen tents had appeared. By the next day there were at […]
Photo: Eurovision Song Contest We’ve got so much to say about Moldova’s entry for Eurovision 2015. Not about the song per say, which is just kind of blergh, but about the music video — a cops-and-robbers-BOOM-BANG-BANG car chase directed by a second-hand Moldovan version of Michael Bay. In this masterpiece, which is a bit NSFW […]
Gagauzia, a small region in neighboring Moldova, has taken a turn toward economic union with Russia, and away from the EU. Will the whole country follow?
Move the shot glasses aside and make way for some stemware. One expert characterizes the Russian wine market as one of the “most promising in the modern world.”
COMRAT — In Comrat, the capital of the autonomous Gagauzia region in southern Moldova, time has stopped. Mud houses and damaged roads, some of which have never been touched by asphalt, make this town of 26,000 residents feel like something from the 19th century. To get closer to what resembles an urban atmosphere, visitors must […]
The Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, located on the Moldovan border with Ukraine, has relied on Russia for the past two decades. A perfect example of potential new burdens for Moscow.
TURIN – It may not be wartime, but the economic crisis is changing basic facts of life. And in some cases, changing them backward in time. One notable change is that Italian women are rediscovering jobs as domestic helpers (housecleaners and care givers), that had been taken over in recent years by a virtual labor […]