NEWS FOCUS: Elections in the Republic of Moldova. The perspective of Moldovan online sources

The elections in the Republic of Moldova have attracted significant attention from the media in Romania in recent days, including in the online space. For this analysis, however, I chose a different perspective: the way the elections across the Prut have been reflected in the most important digital media sources in the Republic of Moldova. With the help of a data stream provided by NewsVibe, a real-time media monitoring platform, I analyzed nearly 7,600 mentions related to the Moldovan elections, coming from essential online sources in this country – news sites, associated Facebook pages, institutional websites, as well as online communication channels belonging to Moldovan parties and politicians.

We specify that our analysis also included relevant sources in the Russian language, to outline a more complete picture of how the elections in the Republic of Moldova were covered.

Top mentioned keywords

The terms most strongly associated with the theme of the elections in the Republic of Moldova, in the most relevant Moldovan online sources, are, alongside the name of the country and the capital Chișinău, political actors (PAS, Ion Ceban, Partidul Nostru or Maia Sandu), institutional (Central Electoral Commission), along with Romania and Russia. In different proportions, the names of all electoral competitors were mentioned in connection with the elections in the Republic of Moldova.

It is noteworthy, however, that significant attention was given to the legal framework and institutional decisions regarding the elections – for example, the prohibition of certain candidacies – alongside interest in the geopolitical stakes, as well as the internal politics attributed to the electoral event.

NewsVibe Chart. Top entities mentioned in the context of references to the elections in the Republic of Moldova, in the last week, in the most relevant Moldovan online sources

Map of semantic associations

Through semantic network analysis, by which NewsVibe maps the structure and connections within an online conversation, we can observe an overview of the themes discussed in the digital environment regarding the elections in the Republic of Moldova during the analyzed period.

NewsVibe Chart. The semantic network of the online conversation about the elections in the Republic of Moldova, in the last week, in the most relevant Moldovan online sources

What the analysis shows us:

• GEOPOLITICS – West vs RUSSIA. A broad area of debate, developed around terms such as Republic of Moldova or Moldova, in connection with terms like Maia Sandu, Russia, Europe, EU, Romania or Ukraine. This area actually shows how the elections were discussed from the perspective of various external influences alleged to have existed over the election – especially from the area of the Russian Federation – but also from the geopolitical stakes related to the war in Ukraine or the path of the Republic of Moldova towards the EU.
• INSTITUTIONS. An area defined around the Central Electoral Commission in Chișinău, which essentially reflects discussions about the application of legislation and the institutional framework of the elections, in the context of important decisions made by the CEC in the days leading up to the election – the case of the prohibition of the candidacy of the Inima Moldovei party, led by Irina Vlah.
• POLITICAL DIMENSION. A core shaped around PAS, especially in relation to terms like Republic of Moldova, Chișinău or Ion Ceban, which specifically targets discussions regarding the anticipated results of the elections and the possible forms of political collaboration that they could generate.
• REGIONAL DIMENSION. Finally, a smaller core, with the name Bălți as an important node, which reflects news about various irregularities or investigations at the local level, in the context of the preparation or actual conduct of the election.

SENTIMENT. The NewsVibe platform has created an advanced automated sentiment analysis system, which uses specially trained AI algorithms and LLM tools to detect tonal nuances – favorable, unfavorable, or neutral – in the context of references to relevant entities for an online conversation.

NewsVibe Chart. Automated assessment of the tone of the online conversation about the elections in the Republic of Moldova, in the last week, in the most relevant Moldovan online sources

What the analysis shows us:

• Russia is the most frequently mentioned actor in controversial and polarizing contexts, amid accusations against the Russian Federation of interference in the electoral process in the Republic of Moldova.
• PAS was also frequently mentioned in such contexts, considering the confrontation between the ruling party in Chișinău and its political competitors. This is an important difference compared to the analysis of data from Romania, where the name PAS is not mentioned as often (nor in a negative context).
• However, we note a more pronounced presence of President Maia Sandu in positive contexts, as she continues to be perceived as the symbol of PAS and is mentioned four times more frequently in a positive context compared to a negative one. In contrast, in the case of PAS, the ratio is 3 to 1 in favor of negative mentions.
• In general, negative media contexts are mainly found among political competitors from the Patriotic Bloc, as well as among political actors such as Ilan Șor and Vladimir Plahotniuc.
• At the level of the entire conversation, the predominant tone is factual-descriptive (78% neutral), while in the area of discussions with emotional charge, the negative tone (13%) dominates over the positive (8%).

*****Synthesis made with the help of a data stream provided by the media monitoring platform NewsVibe Romania. The analysis, data, and images presented have been enhanced with the help of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence tools.