Webinar | Between Europe and Russia: the stakes of the elections in Georgia and Moldova

Against a backdrop of Russian attempts at destabilisation, Moldova will hold two major elections on 20 October: the first round of the presidential election, with the pro-Western incumbent Maia Sandu seeking re-election, and a referendum on Moldova’s accession to the European Union. These two events will have serious consequences for the future of this country of 2.7 million inhabitants, located between Romania and Ukraine, which has been independent since the collapse of the USSR and has been a candidate for EU membership since 2022. A week later, Georgian citizens will go to the polls in a crucial election for the future of their country: after 12 years in power, will the Georgian Dream party be sent back into opposition? This is what the pro-Western opposition is seeking to achieve, accusing the outgoing government of serious democratic backsliding, notably with certain laws inspired by the Putin model, and of a pro-Russian orientation, despite a pro-European façade (Georgia submitted its application for EU membership at the same time as Ukraine and Moldova). To analyse the issues at stake in these crucial elections on the doorstep of the European Union, the Centre Grande Europe of the Jacques Delors Institute is hosting a webinar with:

• Thorniké GORDADZE, associate researcher at the CGE-IJD, former Minister for Euro-Atlantic Integration of Georgia
• Marie MENDRAS, CNRS research fellow at CERI-Sciences Po
• Nicu POPESCU, policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Moldova

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