Moldova: Civil Society and Media Synergies

IWPR event brings together regional stakeholders to share best practices in combating malign influence.

Speakers at the ICDC event, from left: Mihail Sirkeli, Executive Director, NOKTA; Andrei Curararu, Policy and Security Expert, Watchdog.md; Martina Karapusheva, Project Manager, GIZ Moldova; Alexandru Ghetan, Project Manager, Youth Media Centre; Irina Tabaranu, Journalist and Co-Founder, Zona de Securitate; Olga Guțuțui, Team Lead and Programme Manager for Moldova, International Media Support; Petru Macovei, Executive Director, Association of Independent Press. © Radu Balan

(From L)Ana Sârbu, event moderator; Kamil Basaj, Founder and President, INFO OPS Poland Foundation; George Melashvili, Founder & President, Europe-Georgia Institute; Anastasiia Romaniuk, Analyst, Civil Network OPORA (Ukraine); Ana Mocanu, Funky Citizens (Romania); Ugis Libietis, Researcher, Latvian Institute of International Affairs; Tomas Kazulenas, Director & Co-Founder, Civic Resilience Initiative (Lithuania). © Radu Balan

H.E. Fern Marion Horine, British Ambassador to Moldova speaking at the conference. © Radu Balan

View of the audience at the ICDC conference. © Radu Balan

Moldova’s experience countering foreign information manipulation and interference offers valuable lessons for other Eastern European countries facing similar risks, according to speakers at an IWPR conference in Chisianu.

Moldova’s September 2025 parliamentary elections unfolded under extraordinary pressure, marked by coordinated Russian influence operations, cyberattacks, covert financing and attempts to destabilise the public sphere. Despite this hostile environment, Moldovan civil society, independent media and fact-checking groups coordinated to neutralise malign narratives and strengthen public trust in the democratic process.

In her opening remarks at the November 27 event, which brought together regional civil society, media, officals and international partners to discuss malign influence operations, British Ambassador to Moldova Fern Horine described the attacks ahead of the 2025 elections as “sophisticated, deliberate attempts to destabilise governance and silence independent voices”.

Noting that collaboration was the most effective response, she argued an informed society and rapid detection of malign narratives were vital for national security.

“Only when we work together, and we work in partnership, can we defeat the threats that are present in Moldova and throughout Europe,” she concluded.

Organised by the Independent Countering Disinformation Centre (ICDC), a one-stop-shop IWPR helped establish in 2023, the conference hosted delegates from Romania, Ukraine, Georgia, Bulgaria, Armenia, Latvia and Lithuania to discuss tactics to resist intense hybrid pressure.

Kamil Basaj, President of the INFO OPS Poland Foundation, described how Russian operations rely on “very similar psychological metrics” across borders. He praised Moldova’s civic-media collaboration as “one of the great examples of how it can be effectively used against external threats,” arguing that it could serve as a model for stronger international cooperation.

George Melashvili, President of the Europe-Georgia Institute, drew parallels with Georgia’s long-term exposure to hybrid threats, describing a propaganda “unholy trinity” operating in Georgia—messaging from Moscow, local pro-Kremlin actors and imported far-right narratives.

Melashvili argued that democracies must present a compelling, positive vision of the future as “we shall never be able to outfear Russia”.

Ugis Libietis, a researcher at the Latvian Institute of International Affairs, agreed that democracies must focus on offering positive narratives, concluding,“It is easy to fight against something, but it’s much harder to fight for something.”

Since January 2022, IWPR Moldova has been involved in projects countering Kremlin-generated disinformation and interference, supporting local civil society and media organisations working in this field. Soon after the full invasion of Ukraine, IWPR and its local partners realised that civil society and media needed a joint platform to coordinate their efforts and strengthen Moldova’s resilience to disinformation and helped launch the ICDC.

Speakers acknowledged that these efforts to reinforce collaboration between civil society and media contributed to the victories of pro-European candidates in the presidential and parliamentary elections held in 2024 and 2025.

Frequent communication, rapid-response protocols and a clear division of labour ensured that harmful stories were countered quickly and duplication of effort was avoided. Because false narratives escalated quickly, speed proved crucial. Throughout the campaigns, responses were issued within hours, not days, with journalists integrating fact-checks into reporting and civil society tracking emerging patterns in real time.

Anastasiia Romaniuk of Ukraine’s Civil Network OPORA called for her country to adopt Moldova’s approach “on an Olympic scale” and urged governments in the region to stop treating democratic resilience as a miracle, insisting instead on institutionalising what works.

Participants agreed that Moldova’s resilience was not accidental, but rather built through deliberate cooperation, trust and sustained effort across multiple election cycles. The country demonstrated that defending democracy is possible when civil society and independent media choose collaboration.

"This event was organised with the UK Government support. Opinions, findings, and conclusions expressed at the conference do not necessarily reflect those of the UK Government.”