Protecting democracy and strengthening society’s ability to withstand hybrid risks means, above all, greater safety for citizens and transparent electoral processes. This was the key message delivered by Minister of Internal Affairs Daniella Misail-Nichitin at the Moldova Security Forum 2025.
Speaking on the panel “Democracy Under Siege: External Interference in the Electoral Process of the Republic of Moldova”, the Minister shared the lessons learned from the most recent elections, which led to improved interinstitutional cooperation, faster operational responses, and expanded partnerships with European countries to counter external interference.
The recent elections were a major test for the democracy of Moldova and for the entire region, unfolding in a global context marked by foreign interference and information manipulation. The Ministry of Internal Affairs acted on several key fronts: raising public awareness through communication, strengthening cooperation and collaboration, and deploying modern legislative, strategic, and operational instruments.
Interinstitutional coordination was based on a clear understanding of the continuous nature of foreign interference, which has involved methods such as illegal financing of political parties, cyberattacks, false bomb threats, manipulative and destabilizing messaging, and the preparation of pressure groups, chatbots, Telegram networks, and others. To counter illegal financing, electoral corruption, and destabilization efforts, hundreds of searches were carried out.
“The most important thing is that we remain even more united - citizens, institutions, and partners - to protect democratic values”, Minister Misail-Nichitin stated.
The discussions highlighted the coordinated actions of public institutions together with external partners to strengthen resilience and safeguard the democratic future of Moldova.
Now in its second edition, the event brought together more than 250 government officials, diplomats, EU and NATO experts, as well as representatives of academia and civil society. The forum took place in Chișinău on 18–19 November.