I’m glad to share my latest paper published by the German Council on Foreign Relations: “Hybrid Threats to Democratic Processes in the EU’s Eastern Neighborhood: Moldova’s 2025 Elections – Why the Upgraded Illicit Funding Playbook Failed to Replicate 2024’s Electoral Impact.”

In this analysis, I examine how external actors, namely Russia, adapted their interference toolkit ahead of the 2025 parliamentary elections in Moldova. After the significant impact of illicit financing, vote-buying networks, and disinformation in 2024, the expectation was that an upgraded version of the same playbook would once again distort democratic competition. It did not.

Congrats to Dimitar K., Irakli Sirbiladze , Malwina Talik and Marianna Prysiazhniuk who also contributed to this report, which compiles papers prepared for the 2025 colloquium on hybrid threats held in Chișinău in November. The event was organised by the German Council on Foreign Relations and IPRE – Institutul pentru Politici și Reforme Europene.

Many thanks for this amazing opportunity to Anastasia Pociumban, Ricarda Nierhaus, Iulian Groza and Mihai Mogildea.

cc German Marshall Fund of the United States