Moldova's foreign ministry on Monday expelled five Russian diplomats, ordering Moscow to remove them in a move that outraged the country's pro-Russian president. The foreign ministry declared the diplomats "personae non grata," giving the relevant note to the Russian ambassador to Moldova Farit Mukhametshin on Monday, a foreign ministry aide, Artur Sarbu, told AFP, without explaining why they were being expelled.

Two friends start climbing the world’s peaks, higher and higher. During the process, they discover the mountains inside them. [...] The two men are the creators of Adventure Diplomacy, a project that wants to combine networking with mountain climbing.

Proposed changes to Moldova's broadcast regulations are creating a free-speech conundrum. The amendments are primarily meant to counter propaganda from Kremlin-friendly Russian broadcast outlets, but they also could end up placing curbs on journalists' ability to cover the Moldovan government. 

Since the beginning of the year, the small autonomous area of Gagauzia in southern Moldova has become an improbably important focus of Russian foreign policy.

Romania exerts soft power in Moldova.  Moldovan government keen to get closer to European Union.  Russia warns against move westwards.  Some Moldovans wary of Moscow, others of Bucharest

The EU prides itself on its soft power that consists, among other things, of helping build the rule of law, granting financial assistance and development aid, and extending trade-preferential tariffs. In the case of Moldova, it is the very attractiveness of the EU itself that has remained a magnet for the majority of the country's 3.5 million inhabitants.

Like Ukraine, Moldova has become a geo-strategic competition between Brussels and Moscow. And like Ukraine, Russia will be determined not to let the country slip away from its influence. As shown during the election campaign, Russia will attempt to use its version of soft power to continue to meddle in Moldova.