WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.459 So let's set the scene for you right away. It's 00:00:03.459 --> 00:00:09.259 May 21st, 2023. We are in Chinayo, Moldova. Right 00:00:09.259 --> 00:00:11.019 in the middle of the capital. Exactly. And if 00:00:11.019 --> 00:00:12.800 you are standing in the Great National Assembly 00:00:12.800 --> 00:00:16.649 Square on that specific Sunday. You probably 00:00:16.649 --> 00:00:18.370 couldn't even move your arms without bumping 00:00:18.370 --> 00:00:20.250 into someone. It was just absolutely packed. 00:00:20.370 --> 00:00:23.530 Literal sea of people. Yeah, a sea. We are talking 00:00:23.530 --> 00:00:26.309 about estimates ranging anywhere from 70 ,000 00:00:26.309 --> 00:00:29.690 to 100 ,000 souls just squeezed into the city 00:00:29.690 --> 00:00:32.090 center. Which, just to pause you there for a 00:00:32.090 --> 00:00:35.109 second, is a staggering number for Moldova. I 00:00:35.109 --> 00:00:37.009 mean, we are talking about a country with tens 00:00:37.009 --> 00:00:40.030 of millions of residents. Right. A crowd of that 00:00:40.030 --> 00:00:43.420 size in Chennai. is the equivalent of millions 00:00:43.420 --> 00:00:45.380 gathering in a place like London or New York. 00:00:45.600 --> 00:00:48.280 It's statistically huge. It really is. And the 00:00:48.280 --> 00:00:50.219 visual is just overwhelming. If you look at the 00:00:50.219 --> 00:00:52.179 footage, you have thousands of European Union 00:00:52.179 --> 00:00:54.240 flags snapping in the wind and the energy is 00:00:54.240 --> 00:00:57.740 completely electric. The message just feels undeniable. 00:00:57.899 --> 00:01:00.079 It does. The event was officially called the 00:01:00.079 --> 00:01:02.899 European Moldovan National Assembly. Yeah. And 00:01:02.899 --> 00:01:04.340 if you just looked at the drone footage, you'd 00:01:04.340 --> 00:01:08.379 think. OK, this is it. This is a moment of absolute 00:01:08.379 --> 00:01:10.939 national unity. It looks like an entire country 00:01:10.939 --> 00:01:12.840 screaming at the top of its lungs that it belongs 00:01:12.840 --> 00:01:14.719 in the West. It certainly looked that way on 00:01:14.719 --> 00:01:18.079 the broadcast. But as we went through the stack 00:01:18.079 --> 00:01:20.900 of sources for this deep dive, it became pretty 00:01:20.900 --> 00:01:23.280 clear that the drone footage really only tells 00:01:23.280 --> 00:01:26.079 half the story. Right. Because while the cameras 00:01:26.079 --> 00:01:28.680 were fixed on those EU flags in the capital, 00:01:28.980 --> 00:01:32.560 the vibe was, let's say, very different in the 00:01:32.560 --> 00:01:34.290 rest of the country. Different is definitely 00:01:34.290 --> 00:01:37.370 putting it mildly. While the government was celebrating 00:01:37.370 --> 00:01:39.909 in the square opposition, opposition parties 00:01:39.909 --> 00:01:41.689 were actually holding counter rallies in other 00:01:41.689 --> 00:01:44.469 cities. There were fierce accusations of political 00:01:44.469 --> 00:01:47.549 theater and inflated numbers and some genuinely 00:01:47.549 --> 00:01:51.450 messy disputes about who exactly footed the bill 00:01:51.450 --> 00:01:54.480 for all this patriotism. So that is our mission 00:01:54.480 --> 00:01:56.879 for this deep dive. We are going to unpack how 00:01:56.879 --> 00:01:59.500 a single rally became the focal point for an 00:01:59.500 --> 00:02:02.420 entire country's geopolitical identity. Exactly. 00:02:02.519 --> 00:02:04.319 We need to figure out if this was a spontaneous 00:02:04.319 --> 00:02:06.980 show of force by the people or if it was a highly 00:02:06.980 --> 00:02:08.960 strategic soft power play by the government. 00:02:09.120 --> 00:02:11.879 And to do that. We have to look at everything. 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:13.879 We're looking at the speeches, the police reports, 00:02:14.099 --> 00:02:17.599 the opposition's complaints, and the financial 00:02:17.599 --> 00:02:19.719 receipts. Oh, we are definitely getting to the 00:02:19.719 --> 00:02:21.599 receipts later. Especially the receipts. Yes. 00:02:21.719 --> 00:02:24.460 But let's start with the event itself. Why did 00:02:24.460 --> 00:02:27.740 this happen? Because rallies of this size, they 00:02:27.740 --> 00:02:30.060 don't just pop up out of nowhere. No, they don't. 00:02:30.060 --> 00:02:32.360 This was highly orchestrated from the top down. 00:02:33.120 --> 00:02:35.659 President Maya Sandu announced this event back 00:02:35.659 --> 00:02:39.439 in April 2023. Okay. And she was very transparent 00:02:39.439 --> 00:02:42.180 about the motivation. She stated clearly that 00:02:42.180 --> 00:02:44.740 the goal was to tell the world that we are Europeans. 00:02:45.099 --> 00:02:46.800 It sounds like she was trying to prove a point 00:02:46.800 --> 00:02:50.120 to someone specific. She was. She explicitly 00:02:50.120 --> 00:02:52.500 mentioned that she wanted to answer the skeptics, 00:02:52.520 --> 00:02:55.520 both domestic and international, who are always 00:02:55.520 --> 00:02:57.539 asking, what do the Moldovans really want? Right, 00:02:57.539 --> 00:02:59.620 because there's been that tension. Exactly. There's 00:02:59.620 --> 00:03:02.520 been this tug of war in Moldova for decades between 00:03:02.520 --> 00:03:05.060 looking east toward Russia and looking west toward 00:03:05.060 --> 00:03:08.719 the EU. Sandu wanted to create physical, undeniable 00:03:08.719 --> 00:03:11.740 proof that the country had chosen a side. And 00:03:11.740 --> 00:03:13.379 she didn't just rely on the crowd to make that 00:03:13.379 --> 00:03:15.419 point. She brought in some serious diplomatic 00:03:15.419 --> 00:03:19.590 firepower. Roberta Mazzola was there. The president 00:03:19.590 --> 00:03:21.550 of the European Parliament. Which is a massive 00:03:21.550 --> 00:03:23.990 deal. Oh, absolutely. Having the head of the 00:03:23.990 --> 00:03:26.289 European Parliament standing on a stage in Chino 00:03:26.289 --> 00:03:29.629 is a huge signal of support. And Metzola didn't 00:03:29.629 --> 00:03:32.050 just stand there and wave. No, she got right 00:03:32.050 --> 00:03:34.969 into it. She grabbed the microphone and she actually 00:03:34.969 --> 00:03:37.729 started chanting in Romanian. Wait, really? She 00:03:37.729 --> 00:03:39.729 was chanting in the local language. She was. 00:03:39.830 --> 00:03:43.349 She led a chant of Europa este Moldova. Moldova 00:03:43.349 --> 00:03:47.129 este Europa. Europe is Moldova. Moldova is Europe. 00:03:47.349 --> 00:03:49.960 Exactly. That is, well, that's just good branding. 00:03:50.039 --> 00:03:52.400 It's incredibly catchy. It is brilliant branding 00:03:52.400 --> 00:03:55.960 because it reinforces this idea of irreversibility. 00:03:56.430 --> 00:03:58.509 The message she was sending was, we aren't just 00:03:58.509 --> 00:04:01.610 asking to join. We are already part of the family. 00:04:01.770 --> 00:04:03.409 But let's get back to the numbers for a second. 00:04:03.469 --> 00:04:05.770 I know we threw out that 70 to 100 ,000 figure 00:04:05.770 --> 00:04:08.349 earlier, but where is that actually coming from? 00:04:08.789 --> 00:04:11.289 Because whenever I see crowd estimates for political 00:04:11.289 --> 00:04:13.669 events, I just assume everyone is exaggerating. 00:04:13.789 --> 00:04:16.470 That is a very healthy instinct to have when 00:04:16.470 --> 00:04:18.350 you're looking at this stuff. And in this case, 00:04:18.389 --> 00:04:21.370 the discrepancy tells its own story. The Moldovan 00:04:21.370 --> 00:04:25.589 police estimated between 75 and 80 ,000 participants. 00:04:26.009 --> 00:04:29.329 OK. But the European Parliament press office 00:04:29.329 --> 00:04:31.970 was slightly more conservative, putting it at 00:04:31.970 --> 00:04:34.209 70 ,000. So that's kind of the official administrative 00:04:34.209 --> 00:04:37.560 line. Right. But then you have journalist Vitaly 00:04:37.560 --> 00:04:40.279 Kalogirianu from Deutsche Welle, who was on the 00:04:40.279 --> 00:04:42.779 ground reporting. He claimed the number was actually 00:04:42.779 --> 00:04:45.579 closer to 100 ,000. That is a pretty big gap. 00:04:45.699 --> 00:04:48.040 I mean, 20 ,000 or 30 ,000 people is a lot of 00:04:48.040 --> 00:04:50.800 people to miss in a headcount. It is. But honestly, 00:04:50.959 --> 00:04:53.620 whether the number is 70 ,000 or 100 ,000, the 00:04:53.620 --> 00:04:55.620 political effect is roughly the same. It fills 00:04:55.620 --> 00:04:58.459 the square. It creates the image. The visual 00:04:58.459 --> 00:05:01.100 of unanimity. Yes. And we shouldn't forget that 00:05:01.100 --> 00:05:04.060 this wasn't just happening in Chino. The Moldovan 00:05:04.060 --> 00:05:07.600 diaspora. mobilized in major European cities 00:05:07.600 --> 00:05:09.899 on the exact same day. Oh, so they had solidarity 00:05:09.899 --> 00:05:14.160 protests. Exactly. London, Paris, Rome. Moldovans 00:05:14.160 --> 00:05:16.459 living abroad were gathering to amplify the signal. 00:05:16.620 --> 00:05:19.199 It was a very coordinated effort to show that 00:05:19.199 --> 00:05:22.540 this desire for European integration transcends 00:05:22.540 --> 00:05:24.860 the country's physical borders. Okay, so the 00:05:24.860 --> 00:05:27.519 square is full, the drone is flying, and that 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:30.339 soul is chanting in Romanian. What did the people 00:05:30.339 --> 00:05:33.959 actually do? Was there a formal vote? Sort of. 00:05:33.959 --> 00:05:35.600 And this is where it gets really interesting 00:05:35.600 --> 00:05:38.980 from a democratic procedure standpoint. A resolution 00:05:38.980 --> 00:05:41.980 was read out loud to the crowd. This resolution 00:05:41.980 --> 00:05:45.079 called for enshrining EU accession directly into 00:05:45.079 --> 00:05:48.379 the constitution of Moldova. It set a hard target 00:05:48.379 --> 00:05:51.220 to join the EU by 2030 and to start negotiations 00:05:51.220 --> 00:05:54.339 by the end of 2023. OK, that is heavy stuff to 00:05:54.339 --> 00:05:56.420 just announce at a rally. Right. And then the 00:05:56.420 --> 00:05:59.120 moderator asked for a show of support. The participants 00:05:59.120 --> 00:06:01.920 raised their hands and the moderator simply declared 00:06:01.920 --> 00:06:05.139 unanimity. Hold on. Unanimity via a show of hands 00:06:05.139 --> 00:06:08.079 in a massive public square. Yep. That feels, 00:06:08.100 --> 00:06:10.019 I don't know, a little medieval or at least a 00:06:10.019 --> 00:06:11.680 little informal for changing a constitution. 00:06:12.259 --> 00:06:15.139 Well, it's highly symbolic. Legally speaking, 00:06:15.420 --> 00:06:17.879 a show of hands in a square doesn't change the 00:06:17.879 --> 00:06:21.319 constitution. But politically, it's a powerful 00:06:21.319 --> 00:06:23.920 mandate. It allows the government to go back 00:06:23.920 --> 00:06:26.079 to Brussels and say, look, the people have spoken 00:06:26.079 --> 00:06:28.680 with one voice. And I'm guessing that one voice 00:06:28.680 --> 00:06:31.240 also had something specific to say about Russia. 00:06:32.079 --> 00:06:34.959 Explicitly. The resolution called on the entire 00:06:34.959 --> 00:06:38.199 political class to formally condemn the Russian 00:06:38.199 --> 00:06:41.439 invasion of Ukraine and take a clear, undeniable 00:06:41.439 --> 00:06:43.800 stance against the Kremlin. So this wasn't just 00:06:43.800 --> 00:06:46.779 a pro -EU party. It was a firm rejection of the 00:06:46.779 --> 00:06:49.180 Russian sphere of influence. Yes, it was drawing 00:06:49.180 --> 00:06:51.319 a line in the sand. Okay, so if you were standing 00:06:51.319 --> 00:06:53.240 in that square, you'd think the whole country 00:06:53.240 --> 00:06:55.839 was completely on the same page. But if we zoom 00:06:55.839 --> 00:06:58.000 out to the rest of the country, that unanimity 00:06:58.000 --> 00:07:00.759 starts to look a lot more fractured. Significantly 00:07:00.759 --> 00:07:03.230 so. Because while the applause was happening 00:07:03.230 --> 00:07:05.970 in Xi 'an, the opposition parties were actively 00:07:05.970 --> 00:07:08.569 boycotting the event. And this is where the narrative 00:07:08.569 --> 00:07:11.209 gets super complicated. It wasn't just pro -Russian 00:07:11.209 --> 00:07:13.089 people staying home. All right, let's talk about 00:07:13.089 --> 00:07:17.750 the counter rallies. The Orhe Party. They didn't 00:07:17.750 --> 00:07:19.970 just sit this out. They actually organized their 00:07:19.970 --> 00:07:22.370 own events, right? They did. They held rallies 00:07:22.370 --> 00:07:25.189 in Orhe, Kamrat, and Bali. And they claimed to 00:07:25.189 --> 00:07:28.389 have 60 ,000 participants across those events. 00:07:28.589 --> 00:07:31.629 60 ,000? That's almost matching the government's 00:07:31.629 --> 00:07:33.470 numbers in the capital. Do we actually believe 00:07:33.470 --> 00:07:35.930 that number? The police figures were much lower, 00:07:36.029 --> 00:07:38.889 of course. Yeah. But the exact number almost 00:07:38.889 --> 00:07:40.930 doesn't matter as much as the point they were 00:07:40.930 --> 00:07:43.329 making. There was a significant mobilization 00:07:43.329 --> 00:07:45.329 actively against the government's narrative. 00:07:45.550 --> 00:07:47.790 And what did they want? Their demand was completely 00:07:47.790 --> 00:07:49.990 different. They weren't asking for EU membership. 00:07:50.069 --> 00:07:52.269 They were demanding a national referendum on 00:07:52.269 --> 00:07:54.550 Moldova's foreign policy. Which sounds totally 00:07:54.550 --> 00:07:56.589 reasonable on paper. You know, let's vote on 00:07:56.589 --> 00:07:59.240 it. The context is that they ultimately want 00:07:59.240 --> 00:08:02.439 to stop the pivot to the West. Precisely. Their 00:08:02.439 --> 00:08:04.220 argument was that the government shouldn't make 00:08:04.220 --> 00:08:07.220 a massive unilateral move toward the EU without 00:08:07.220 --> 00:08:10.199 a direct specific vote from the people. But here 00:08:10.199 --> 00:08:12.160 is the part that really surprised me when I was 00:08:12.160 --> 00:08:14.759 reading through the sources. It wasn't just the 00:08:14.759 --> 00:08:17.139 usual suspects like the pro -Russian parties 00:08:17.139 --> 00:08:19.899 who were mad. You had the dignity and truth platform. 00:08:20.399 --> 00:08:22.259 Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't they 00:08:22.259 --> 00:08:25.019 a pro -European party? They are. They are very 00:08:25.019 --> 00:08:28.279 much a pro -EU party. And this is a crucial nuance 00:08:28.279 --> 00:08:30.360 that completely gets lost in the international 00:08:30.360 --> 00:08:32.759 headlines. You had a pro -European opposition 00:08:32.759 --> 00:08:36.340 party effectively boycotting a pro -European 00:08:36.340 --> 00:08:39.230 rally. Why? That seems like shooting yourself 00:08:39.230 --> 00:08:41.470 in the foot. It comes down to domestic politics. 00:08:42.049 --> 00:08:44.690 The dignity and truth platform used to be... 00:08:44.919 --> 00:08:47.980 political allies with the ruling party PAS. But 00:08:47.980 --> 00:08:50.460 in this instance, they accused PAS of using the 00:08:50.460 --> 00:08:53.059 national rally as an electoral stunt. Ah, okay. 00:08:53.139 --> 00:08:55.500 So they saw it as a campaign rally disguised 00:08:55.500 --> 00:08:58.220 as a national assembly. Exactly. They argued 00:08:58.220 --> 00:09:01.039 that PAS was using the European label to distract 00:09:01.039 --> 00:09:03.620 from their falling approval ratings right ahead 00:09:03.620 --> 00:09:06.559 of local elections. They saw it as pure politicking, 00:09:06.580 --> 00:09:08.720 not patriotism. They didn't want to be props 00:09:08.720 --> 00:09:10.899 in President Sandu's commercial, essentially. 00:09:11.340 --> 00:09:13.059 And then you have Irina Vlah, the governor of 00:09:13.059 --> 00:09:15.519 Gagatsia. She had a more economic critique of 00:09:15.519 --> 00:09:18.659 the whole thing, right? Right. She pointed out 00:09:18.659 --> 00:09:20.779 that at the time, Moldova was technically operating 00:09:20.779 --> 00:09:23.460 under a state of emergency. Oh, wow. Her argument 00:09:23.460 --> 00:09:25.519 was, why are we spending money and energy on 00:09:25.519 --> 00:09:27.440 a massive parade when people are struggling with 00:09:27.440 --> 00:09:29.940 the basic cost of living? She said the government 00:09:29.940 --> 00:09:32.740 should focus on pensions, salaries, and quality 00:09:32.740 --> 00:09:35.600 of life, not buying flags. You mentioned the 00:09:35.600 --> 00:09:37.700 state of emergency. This brings up a really sticky 00:09:37.700 --> 00:09:40.039 point about democratic norms and all of this, 00:09:40.139 --> 00:09:42.759 because the opposition actually wanted to protest 00:09:42.759 --> 00:09:44.500 in the Capitol, didn't they? They had permits. 00:09:44.720 --> 00:09:47.539 They did have authorization initially, but the 00:09:47.539 --> 00:09:50.120 government used the commission for extraordinary 00:09:50.120 --> 00:09:53.659 situations to block them. OK, pause. Commission 00:09:53.659 --> 00:09:56.860 for extraordinary situations. That sounds incredibly 00:09:56.860 --> 00:09:59.039 ominous. What exactly is that? Is that like a 00:09:59.039 --> 00:10:01.549 martial law? It's not martial law. But it's an 00:10:01.549 --> 00:10:03.870 emergency body that was empowered largely due 00:10:03.870 --> 00:10:06.730 to the war in Ukraine and the severe energy crises 00:10:06.730 --> 00:10:09.549 Moldova was facing. It gives the government broad 00:10:09.549 --> 00:10:12.710 powers to make decisions quickly, bypassing some 00:10:12.710 --> 00:10:15.529 standard legislative procedures. So those can 00:10:15.529 --> 00:10:18.080 just make decrees. Right. And in this case, they 00:10:18.080 --> 00:10:20.320 use it to prevent opposition parties from holding 00:10:20.320 --> 00:10:23.000 counter rallies in specific central locations 00:10:23.000 --> 00:10:25.580 in China during the assembly. So let me get this 00:10:25.580 --> 00:10:27.460 straight. The government says we are holding 00:10:27.460 --> 00:10:29.820 a massive rally to celebrate European democratic 00:10:29.820 --> 00:10:33.019 values, but then uses an emergency commission 00:10:33.019 --> 00:10:35.940 to ban the opposition from protesting at the 00:10:35.940 --> 00:10:39.059 exact same time. That is exactly the contradiction 00:10:39.059 --> 00:10:41.919 the opposition jumped on. They argued it was 00:10:41.919 --> 00:10:44.860 fundamentally undemocratic to use administrative 00:10:44.860 --> 00:10:48.200 tools to sanitize the streets just so the government 00:10:48.200 --> 00:10:50.480 could project an image of perfect unity for the 00:10:50.480 --> 00:10:53.000 cameras. It's that classic tension, right? Doing 00:10:53.000 --> 00:10:56.200 something that might feel illiberal to protect 00:10:56.200 --> 00:10:58.879 a liberal trajectory. Precisely. You see that 00:10:58.879 --> 00:11:01.159 debate happening in a lot of transitioning democracies. 00:11:01.220 --> 00:11:03.720 And that tension wasn't just about protest permits. 00:11:03.980 --> 00:11:07.299 It was also about the money. Oh, yes. The money. 00:11:07.559 --> 00:11:09.399 This is my absolute favorite part of the deep 00:11:09.399 --> 00:11:11.720 dive because the numbers are just, they are wild. 00:11:12.100 --> 00:11:14.059 So initially, the government didn't want to say 00:11:14.059 --> 00:11:16.769 how much this giant party cost, right? No, they 00:11:16.769 --> 00:11:18.830 were very tight lipped about it. They refused 00:11:18.830 --> 00:11:22.529 to disclose costs beforehand. It wasn't until 00:11:22.529 --> 00:11:25.950 July, so months after the event had ended, that 00:11:25.950 --> 00:11:27.629 the receipts finally came out. And when they 00:11:27.629 --> 00:11:30.009 did, it was quite the reveal. Let's break it 00:11:30.009 --> 00:11:32.590 down for the listener. First, just the flags. 00:11:32.970 --> 00:11:35.850 They spent one million lei just to distribute 00:11:35.850 --> 00:11:39.610 4000 flags. For context, that's a very significant 00:11:39.610 --> 00:11:41.509 amount of public funding for what is essentially. 00:11:41.960 --> 00:11:44.700 temporary event decor. But the real kicker, the 00:11:44.700 --> 00:11:46.799 thing that actually made my jaw drop, was the 00:11:46.799 --> 00:11:49.700 music budget. Can we please talk about the orchestras 00:11:49.700 --> 00:11:52.519 versus the choir? This is the detail that sparked 00:11:52.519 --> 00:11:55.019 the most outrage on social media in Moldova. 00:11:55.299 --> 00:11:57.580 So there were three separate orchestras hired 00:11:57.580 --> 00:12:01.139 for the event. Each orchestra received 100 ,000 00:12:01.139 --> 00:12:03.440 lei. Okay, 100 grand. It's expensive, but maybe 00:12:03.440 --> 00:12:06.120 they're world -class musicians. Perhaps. But 00:12:06.120 --> 00:12:08.659 then you look at the model choir from Teleradio 00:12:08.659 --> 00:12:12.269 Moldova. This is a group of 30 professional singers. 00:12:12.970 --> 00:12:15.169 Do you know how much they were paid? I remember 00:12:15.169 --> 00:12:17.149 reading this in the source material and thinking 00:12:17.149 --> 00:12:19.509 it was a typo. It wasn't a typo. The entire group 00:12:19.509 --> 00:12:22.470 of 30 people was paid 5 ,000 lei total. So hold 00:12:22.470 --> 00:12:24.850 on. Let me just do the math on that. 5 ,000 lei 00:12:24.850 --> 00:12:28.710 divided by 30 people. That's like 166 lei per 00:12:28.710 --> 00:12:31.549 person. Correct. Which is barely enough for a 00:12:31.549 --> 00:12:33.690 modest lunch in the capital. So the orchestra 00:12:33.690 --> 00:12:36.169 gets 100 ,000 and the choir singers get pocket 00:12:36.169 --> 00:12:39.649 change. That disparity is just insulting. It 00:12:39.649 --> 00:12:42.169 suggests a hierarchy of value that really angered 00:12:42.169 --> 00:12:45.389 people. But it gets so much worse politically. 00:12:45.730 --> 00:12:47.649 Because one of those orchestras, the ones getting 00:12:47.649 --> 00:12:50.830 the big massive payout, was led by the brother 00:12:50.830 --> 00:12:54.590 of a PAS deputy. Oh, come on. Really? Yes. And 00:12:54.590 --> 00:12:57.370 that is the absolute aha moment. for the opposition, 00:12:57.590 --> 00:13:00.070 because even if that orchestra was the best in 00:13:00.070 --> 00:13:03.029 the entire country, the optics of paying a ruling 00:13:03.029 --> 00:13:05.730 party deputy's brother 100 ,000 lei of public 00:13:05.730 --> 00:13:08.889 money for a government rally, it just feeds directly 00:13:08.889 --> 00:13:10.769 into the opposition's narrative of corruption 00:13:10.769 --> 00:13:13.029 and nepotism. It's a total unforced error. Why 00:13:13.029 --> 00:13:14.690 would you leave yourself open to that kind of 00:13:14.690 --> 00:13:16.809 attack? Well, the total bill came to about 4 00:13:16.809 --> 00:13:19.889 .7 million lei. The government argues this was 00:13:19.889 --> 00:13:22.250 a completely necessary investment in the state's 00:13:22.250 --> 00:13:25.500 future, essentially viewing it. as a marketing 00:13:25.500 --> 00:13:27.600 budget for the country's geopolitical shift. 00:13:28.009 --> 00:13:30.490 And the opposition. The opposition says it was 00:13:30.490 --> 00:13:33.149 a blatant waste of taxpayer money during an economic 00:13:33.149 --> 00:13:35.370 crisis just to pay off friends of the ruling 00:13:35.370 --> 00:13:39.090 party. It's fascinating how the exact same $4 00:13:39.090 --> 00:13:43.129 .7 million lay can be seen as an investment in 00:13:43.129 --> 00:13:46.409 freedom or nepotistic waste just depending on 00:13:46.409 --> 00:13:48.370 which TV station you happen to be watching. That 00:13:48.370 --> 00:13:50.389 is the very nature of political polarization. 00:13:50.610 --> 00:13:53.669 You see two entirely different realities. So 00:13:53.669 --> 00:13:55.450 we've got the rally, we've got the backlash, 00:13:55.549 --> 00:13:57.679 and we've got the budget scandal. But I want 00:13:57.679 --> 00:13:59.399 to step back and look at the bigger picture, 00:13:59.600 --> 00:14:03.120 the why. We have a source here from Rosvan Fonsea, 00:14:03.240 --> 00:14:06.700 who calls this whole event a solid state project. 00:14:06.879 --> 00:14:09.019 That sounds like a physics term. What does he 00:14:09.019 --> 00:14:10.980 mean by that? It does sound technical, doesn't 00:14:10.980 --> 00:14:13.259 it? Fonsea is a political analyst, and he's looking 00:14:13.259 --> 00:14:15.240 at this event strictly through the lens of soft 00:14:15.240 --> 00:14:18.289 power. He argues that President Sandu is trying 00:14:18.289 --> 00:14:20.490 to turn Moldova's traditional vulnerabilities 00:14:20.490 --> 00:14:23.490 into strategic assets. How does that work exactly? 00:14:23.750 --> 00:14:25.789 Well, think about it. Moldova is small. It's 00:14:25.789 --> 00:14:28.490 economically vulnerable. And it has a frozen 00:14:28.490 --> 00:14:31.169 conflict with Russia in Transnistria. It doesn't 00:14:31.169 --> 00:14:33.269 have hard power. It doesn't have a massive army 00:14:33.269 --> 00:14:35.779 or huge oil reserves. Right. They can't force 00:14:35.779 --> 00:14:37.879 anyone to do anything. Exactly. So it has to 00:14:37.879 --> 00:14:40.340 use soft power. It has to make itself politically, 00:14:40.580 --> 00:14:43.440 culturally and morally attractive and indispensable 00:14:43.440 --> 00:14:46.539 to the West. So the rally is basically a giant 00:14:46.539 --> 00:14:51.940 sales pitch. In a way, yes. Fonse uses this great 00:14:51.940 --> 00:14:55.120 term narrative entrepreneurship. Narrative entrepreneurship. 00:14:55.379 --> 00:14:57.580 OK, explain that like I'm five. Think of it like 00:14:57.580 --> 00:14:59.940 a tech startup trying to get venture capital 00:14:59.940 --> 00:15:03.419 funding. OK. The startup is Moldova. The venture 00:15:03.419 --> 00:15:05.940 capitalists are the European Union. And this 00:15:05.940 --> 00:15:09.340 massive rally, this was their pitch deck. They 00:15:09.340 --> 00:15:11.840 need to show the investors that the user base, 00:15:12.100 --> 00:15:15.159 the Moldovan people, is fully on board with the 00:15:15.159 --> 00:15:16.840 product. Oh, that makes total sense. They're 00:15:16.840 --> 00:15:19.100 saying, look, we have 100 ,000 active users in 00:15:19.100 --> 00:15:21.080 the square right now. You should invest in us. 00:15:21.340 --> 00:15:23.899 Exactly. Yeah. Fonsei argues that the participants 00:15:23.899 --> 00:15:25.580 in the square weren't just passive attendees. 00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:28.340 They became active promoters and creators of 00:15:28.340 --> 00:15:31.120 the accession path. By showing up in those numbers, 00:15:31.220 --> 00:15:33.240 they made it politically much harder for Europe 00:15:33.240 --> 00:15:35.200 to say no. And Fonseca connects this to other 00:15:35.200 --> 00:15:37.299 events too, right? It wasn't just a one -off 00:15:37.299 --> 00:15:39.399 thing. No, it's part of a much larger campaign. 00:15:39.779 --> 00:15:41.940 He points to the European Political Community 00:15:41.940 --> 00:15:44.559 Summit, which was held in Bulbaca shortly after 00:15:44.559 --> 00:15:46.980 the rally. And he even points to things like 00:15:46.980 --> 00:15:50.059 Moldova's entries in Eurovision. Wait, Eurovision? 00:15:50.279 --> 00:15:53.909 The pop song contest? Absolutely. Cultural messaging 00:15:53.909 --> 00:15:56.409 is huge for soft power, whether it's a catchy 00:15:56.409 --> 00:15:59.370 pop song on a European stage or a massive political 00:15:59.370 --> 00:16:02.889 rally. The underlying goal is the same, to project 00:16:02.889 --> 00:16:06.230 an image of Moldova that is culturally and ideologically 00:16:06.230 --> 00:16:08.529 compatible with the West. It's about branding 00:16:08.529 --> 00:16:11.649 the entire nation as inherently European. So 00:16:11.649 --> 00:16:14.250 bottom line, did the sales pitch work? Did the 00:16:14.250 --> 00:16:16.549 investors buy it? Diplomatically speaking, yes. 00:16:16.870 --> 00:16:19.149 The international reaction was overwhelmingly 00:16:19.149 --> 00:16:21.970 positive. The U .S. embassy released a statement 00:16:21.970 --> 00:16:24.389 right after saying they were proud to support 00:16:24.389 --> 00:16:27.529 Moldova's European path. Ambassador Kent D. Logsdon 00:16:27.529 --> 00:16:29.570 was actually there in person. And I'm guessing 00:16:29.570 --> 00:16:31.570 the EU officials were absolutely thrilled with 00:16:31.570 --> 00:16:33.950 the photos. They were. It solidified Western 00:16:33.950 --> 00:16:36.750 support and it gave them the exact visual evidence 00:16:36.750 --> 00:16:39.590 they needed to justify pushing forward with negotiations. 00:16:39.990 --> 00:16:42.529 So externally, as a foreign policy tool, it was 00:16:42.529 --> 00:16:45.029 a massive success. But internally? Internally, 00:16:45.049 --> 00:16:48.110 it arguably deepened the divide. You have half 00:16:48.110 --> 00:16:50.350 the country feeling incredibly empowered and 00:16:50.350 --> 00:16:52.590 validated and the other half feeling ignored, 00:16:52.850 --> 00:16:55.590 silenced or deeply suspicious of the government 00:16:55.590 --> 00:16:58.769 spending habits. It's a real dual reality. On 00:16:58.769 --> 00:17:01.429 one hand, May 21st was an undeniable watershed 00:17:01.429 --> 00:17:04.130 moment for the country. You had a clear goal 00:17:04.130 --> 00:17:06.869 to join the EU by 2030. You had that incredible 00:17:06.869 --> 00:17:10.369 image of unanimity in the square, a truly beautiful 00:17:10.369 --> 00:17:12.470 picture. And on the other hand, you have the 00:17:12.470 --> 00:17:15.670 messy, complex reality of opposition boycotts, 00:17:15.670 --> 00:17:17.869 police courts. burdens, controversial emergency 00:17:17.869 --> 00:17:20.829 decrees and choir singers getting paid less than 00:17:20.829 --> 00:17:22.829 the price of a taxi ride. It really reminds you 00:17:22.829 --> 00:17:24.950 that history isn't just what happens. It's how 00:17:24.950 --> 00:17:27.450 it's packaged and sold. That is the key takeaway 00:17:27.450 --> 00:17:30.700 here. A single photo of a cheering crowd is incredibly 00:17:30.700 --> 00:17:33.019 powerful. It moves borders. It changes international 00:17:33.019 --> 00:17:35.759 policies. But it also hides a lot of complicated 00:17:35.759 --> 00:17:38.240 invoices. So here's the thought I want to leave 00:17:38.240 --> 00:17:40.180 you with today as we wrap up this deep dive. 00:17:40.319 --> 00:17:43.839 When you see these massive state organized displays 00:17:43.839 --> 00:17:47.339 of unity, whether it's in Moldova or a political 00:17:47.339 --> 00:17:49.539 rally in the U .S. or anywhere else in the world, 00:17:49.599 --> 00:17:53.079 how much of it is the spontaneous, genuine will 00:17:53.079 --> 00:17:56.380 of the people? And how much of it is just narrative 00:17:56.380 --> 00:17:59.160 entrepreneurship, a carefully calculated production 00:17:59.160 --> 00:18:01.819 designed purely to secure soft power? Like a 00:18:01.819 --> 00:18:05.140 blurry line. But just recognizing that the line 00:18:05.140 --> 00:18:08.039 exists at all is the first step in understanding 00:18:08.039 --> 00:18:10.299 how modern politics really works. Couldn't agree 00:18:10.299 --> 00:18:12.059 more. Thanks for unpacking all this with me. 00:18:12.220 --> 00:18:13.759 It was a pleasure. And to you, our listener, 00:18:13.839 --> 00:18:15.940 thanks for diving deep with us today. Keep questioning 00:18:15.940 --> 00:18:17.619 the narrative and we'll see you on the next one.