“Sovereign Chișinău or abyss with NATO” Moscow and the Moldovan EU referendum 2024

Authors

  • Nico Lamminparras University of Helsinki

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53477/2284-9378-25-14

Keywords:

Russia, Maria Zakharova, Moldova, EU, referendum, NATO, Discourse analysis, Securitization.

Abstract

The Moldovan EU referendum in October 2024 proved a page-turner; the Yes votes won by a thin margin. Russia was the first to condemn the process. In this article, I apply discourse analysis to scrutinize the language of the Russian MFA through the utterance of its spokesperson, Maria Zakharova. Intermittently, securitization schemes are employed. My aim is to divulge Moscow’s standpoint on Moldova via the maneuvers that Zakharova takes advantage of in her official statements.

Zakharova’s stratagems vary. She claims the referendum failed to meet the European norms, i.e., the EU alignment threatens core civil rights. Thereafter, Zakharova turns confrontational and views diplomacy as a conflict. This echoes Putin’s views on a Chisinau with unbreakable ties with Russia; Moldova would no longer enjoy sovereignty in the EU. Once Zakharova poses diplomacy as a movement, she exhorts the Moldovans to counteract the true motive behind “the Western meddling”. It is no more, no less, than the NATO enlargement.

Author Biography

Nico Lamminparras, University of Helsinki

Nico Lamminparras returned to the Faculty of Arts at the University of Helsinki (HU), Helsinki, Finland in 2021, after years of extra-academic labor. Still, he mainly investigates and publishes topics other than his Ph.D. Prior, Nico worked within the automotive industry abroad, and within the IT sector both overseas and at home. For HU, Nico was Member and vice-Member of the University Collegium in 2011–2014, Board Member of the University Library in 2010–2013, Member of the Faculty Committee for Studies in 2010–2013, vice-Member of the Faculty Council in 2013–2014, and Member of the Department Council in 2010–2011. From April 2013 to February 2018, Nico served as the Secretary General of the Association of Orthodox Students (AOS).

Nico completed his mandatory military service in 2004–2005 and is non-commissioned officer (res.). He is trained in squads, platoon, company, and battalion echelons; he has educated conscripts, reservists and civilians, and has led courses on (Military) Education and defense-related symposiums. Since 2009, when he ended up in the thematics of the ex-Soviets, Nico has examined, fairly predicted, and published a wide range of analyses and articles on Moldova & Transnistria, corresponding military, security, security decision-making, Russian official discourse, the Balkan politics, East European elections, cross-border security threats, as well as the Orthodox theology, Ukrainian and Bulgarian Orthodoxies, to Finnish and allied/partner nation military officers, NGOs and civilians. He has advised numerous Bachelor and Master theses, mostly for HU but for polytechnical universities too. Nico coordinated several courses and respective travels on Russian economy, Moscow, Kyiv, and Armenia, as part of his Chairmanship in the association of Russian and East European Studies; he led pilgrimages to Estonia and Russia during his tenure in AOS.

Nico earned a B.A. in Italian Philology and Nordic Languages from HU; a M.A. in Area and Cultural Studies / Russia and Eastern Europe from the same institution; currently, he is finalizing his PhD at the Doctoral School of HU. He is the co-editor (with Mr. Kapanen) of Amid the Currents of Isms and Awakenings (peer-reviewed jubilee book), published in 2019. In 2013–2015, he co-edited and published in Logos (the journal of Orthodox students and young adults); for a few issues thereof, he acted as Editor-in-Chief. For brief periods in 2014 and in 2016, Nico was appointed as Senior Expert in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland, and consequently, was deployed as Observer in the OSCE Election Observation Mission in Moldovan parliamentary and presidential polls.

For an overview of publications, see HU profile.

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Published

2025-06-30

How to Cite

Lamminparras, N. (2025). “Sovereign Chișinău or abyss with NATO” Moscow and the Moldovan EU referendum 2024. BULLETIN OF "CAROL I" NATIONAL DEFENCE UNIVERSITY, 14(2), 33–46. https://doi.org/10.53477/2284-9378-25-14

Issue

Vol. 14 No. 2 (2025)

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Articles

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