Do you feel the pro-Russian citizens and Russian backed Dissidents have made much headway turning others against a Westernized Progressive less corrupt Moldova? Thank you for keeping us informed of the situation in my wife’s and our family’s country. We are keeping our fingers crossed for a better future.
Hi James, thanks for the question! I think that question has a lot of different answers depending on how you frame it. At the big picture, polls have showed a tightening of support for Ukraine vs support for Russia since the beginning of the war a year ago when a large majority of the population supported Ukraine. I don't have a recent poll at hand but support for Russia *appears* to be increasing.
At the same time *appears* is doing a lot of work there. What seems to have been successful is Russia's primary propaganda theme - cynicism. As economic crisis rolls on and people have a lower standard of living than they had before the war propaganda messages that say "NATO and Western elites started this war" or have some fault, or provoked Russia, or whatever, have more traction. Basically it's a message that says "lots of big wigs who don't care about you made a mess and you're suffering for it." For citizens in a country that rarely has been in the middle of geopolitical messes like this, and for a country without a huge amount of agency in the fight, this type of cynical message can find an audience - especially when it is blast from Russian propaganda channels.
Another way to look at the question is to say "is Shor's party becoming widely popular?" The answer to that is a big NO. Shor is a criminal and beyond a small base of support that believes that "he is a criminal but gives back to the community from his largess" there isn't almost any support from him.
At the same time, there is an exhaustion with crisis and a real fading of hope that the government can accomplish anything in terms of the reforms promised.
Looking ahead, it is up to PAS to preform this year and get a lot done that people feel in their everyday lives. At the same time opposition (non-Shor) parties are all maneuvering to find the right balance of political message to pick up on people who may be disaffected... but aren't pro-Putin.
Anyhow, that's an off the cuff attempt to answer a really difficult question. Hopefully we'll get some more high quality polls soon that we can break down for a bit more insight.
Do you feel the pro-Russian citizens and Russian backed Dissidents have made much headway turning others against a Westernized Progressive less corrupt Moldova? Thank you for keeping us informed of the situation in my wife’s and our family’s country. We are keeping our fingers crossed for a better future.
Hi James, thanks for the question! I think that question has a lot of different answers depending on how you frame it. At the big picture, polls have showed a tightening of support for Ukraine vs support for Russia since the beginning of the war a year ago when a large majority of the population supported Ukraine. I don't have a recent poll at hand but support for Russia *appears* to be increasing.
At the same time *appears* is doing a lot of work there. What seems to have been successful is Russia's primary propaganda theme - cynicism. As economic crisis rolls on and people have a lower standard of living than they had before the war propaganda messages that say "NATO and Western elites started this war" or have some fault, or provoked Russia, or whatever, have more traction. Basically it's a message that says "lots of big wigs who don't care about you made a mess and you're suffering for it." For citizens in a country that rarely has been in the middle of geopolitical messes like this, and for a country without a huge amount of agency in the fight, this type of cynical message can find an audience - especially when it is blast from Russian propaganda channels.
Another way to look at the question is to say "is Shor's party becoming widely popular?" The answer to that is a big NO. Shor is a criminal and beyond a small base of support that believes that "he is a criminal but gives back to the community from his largess" there isn't almost any support from him.
At the same time, there is an exhaustion with crisis and a real fading of hope that the government can accomplish anything in terms of the reforms promised.
Looking ahead, it is up to PAS to preform this year and get a lot done that people feel in their everyday lives. At the same time opposition (non-Shor) parties are all maneuvering to find the right balance of political message to pick up on people who may be disaffected... but aren't pro-Putin.
Anyhow, that's an off the cuff attempt to answer a really difficult question. Hopefully we'll get some more high quality polls soon that we can break down for a bit more insight.