Dr Kerry LONGHURST, Senior Researcher at the Natolin (Warsaw) campus of the College of Europe, has just published an article in the Polish Quarterly of International Affairs entitled "Moldova – On the Straight and Narrow?" as part of a special issue on contemporary developments in the Post-Soviet Space.
The article considers how and why Moldova has become the EU's closest neighbour in Eastern Europe. Over the past decade Chisinau has pursued a "European Future", the fruits of which have been the signing of an Association Agreement and Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement with the EU. Despite these momentous steps, strong pro-Russian sentiments and a disillusionment with Western liberal-style party politics prevail with ferocity, as seen in the elections of November 2014.
Territorial fractures and the break away de facto state of Transdnistria, coupled with economic vulnerabilities and problems associated with corruption also serve to stymie Moldova's full modernization and pursuit of a European trajectory. The open question that prevails in the article is whether the new governing coalition can keep the momentum, or whether internal fragilities and outside pressures will have a stunting effect on Moldova's European path.