'People can't afford milk': Moldovans weigh political future as Ukraine war hits economy | The Guardian |

Electricity blackouts, stray missiles and 35% inflation ... on Ukraine has plunged neighbouring Moldova into a crisis that goes beyond higher energy bills. "I see elderly people crying in front of the shop window. It's not that they can't afford salami; they can't even afford the basics like milk," says Carolina Untilă, who works in a corner shop in the suburbs of the capital, Chișinău. Moldova's dependence on energy imports is driving record inflation. Prices of some products have doubled; in her shop, grocery sales have halved, Untilă says.

"Out of a pension, how can you save anything? It all goes on food and medicine," says Ion Istrati, 72, from Borogani in southern Moldova. He is one of many who, faced with gas and electricity prices that are up to six times higher than last year, have applied for government help. "Without the compensation, it would have been grave," Istrati adds. According to opinion polls, more than 40% of Moldovans are struggling with basic costs of living, while an additional 21% of people cannot afford the bare minimum.

To alleviate the burden of winter, as the former Soviet republic weans itself off almost total energy reliance on Russia, the government has had to turn to its western partners for emergency financial support. Russia's state gas company Gazprom slashed supplies to Moldova in October, while reliance on Ukrainian electricity interconnectors has made the country an indirect casualty of the violence, as Kyiv stopped exporting electricity to Moldova in October.

Moldova's minister for external affairs, Nicu Popescu, estimates that sourcing the alternative winter energy supplies the country needs will cost more than €1bn (£860m). So far, the government has managed to raise a third of the amount from its EU partners.

The World Bank In Moldova

Amnesia and Gaza Genocide

OSCE Moldova Elections November 2023

The state of emergency, authorised by the parliament in February 2022 and introduced soon after the
start of the war in Ukraine, has been regularly extended and remains in force.

On 19 June, on a petition by the government, the Constitutional Court ruled to dissolve the Şor Party as unconstitutional and ordered its removal from the register of parties. The Şor Party MPs retained their mandates as independent MPs. While some opposition parties consider this measure excessive, many ODIHR NAM interlocutors supported it as proportionate, although some stated it might be insufficient to prevent further violations and the influx of foreign funds to influence elections. On 10 July, the ruling party submitted a draft law to amend the Law on Political Parties and institute a three-year ban on standing in any elections of the members of the executive board, elected representatives and candidates nominated by any party that was declared unconstitutional by a decision of the Constitutional Court.

2021 Moldovan parliamentary election results

Amnesia and Gaza Genocide