00:00Moldova's capital, Kishinau, is covered in the colours of a political dream – to leave
00:05behind the country's Soviet past and join the West.
00:10But despite more than 30 years of independence, Moscow's influence never feels far here.
00:16Russian troops still patrol a pro-Kremlin breakaway region in Moldova, and ahead of
00:21elections next month, Moldovan police say they've uncovered Russia-linked vote-buying
00:26schemes and paid online recruitment for protests against the pro-Western government.
00:32Moscow denies involvement, but Moldova doesn't buy it.
00:35We do know that Russia does not want to see Moldova part of the EU family, because Russia
00:41does not want to see Moldova strengthening its democracy, its sovereignty.
00:47Tiny Moldova may seem insignificant on the map, but its position sandwiched between war-torn
00:53Ukraine on one side and EU and NATO member Romania on the other means the country has
00:58become something of a geopolitical battleground between East and West.
01:03After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moldova quickly applied to join the European
01:08Union. And now top European leaders are showing up to lend support to their Moldovan counterpart.
01:14The bloc is also helping Moldova combat misinformation and boost its defences. But Moldova's path to
01:21full membership is currently on pause, caught up in an internal EU dispute linked to tensions
01:27between Hungary and Ukraine. And that's left EU officials unable to commit to concrete next steps.
01:34We should be very optimistic about the future and for sure sooner or later, and I assume sooner than
01:45later, we will open the negotiations of the first cluster.
01:51Critics say this delay is an own goal for Europe, because leaving an aspirant member stuck in the
01:57waiting room may only mean more disappointment and frustration, just a few weeks before Moldovans
02:03head to the polls.
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