Israel’s New Friend in Europe

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar with Moldovan Foreign Minister Mihail Popsoi in Chișinău, Moldova, July 2025. Photo credit: Shutterstock.

On December 15, 2024, Israel announced it would temporarily close its embassy in Dublin, owing to “the extreme anti-Israel policies of the Irish government,” and open an embassy in Chișinău, Moldova. What is most noteworthy in this Israeli move, suspending relations with one small country on the margins of Europe and investing in another, is the […]

How Russia Used Gas Exports to Try to Overthrow a Government

New Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean kneels down in front of a state flag as President Maia Sandu stands nearby during an inauguration ceremony in Chisinau, Moldova, February 16, 2023. Photo credit: Reuters

To avoid receiving an energy bill she couldn’t afford, Zinaida Negruti, like countless others in Moldova, began spending more time in the dark as fall transitioned into winter. “Most of the time I don’t turn on the lights because I am worried it will be too expensive,” she says. “I try to use as little […]