The First Two Weeks of the Campaign on Telegram: Associations with the Gestapo, the “Georgian Scenario,” and Threats to Cancel the Elections

The first two weeks of the election campaign on Telegram were characterized by intensified circulation of the statements made by the politicians. Opinions and critical remarks by Igor Dodon, Victoria Furtuna, Irina Vlah, and the others were borrowed by the channels from each other, which increased their impact and visibility.

• The general background of fakes and disinformation narratives which existed before the campaign did not disappear. On the contrary, new fakes presented as old narratives emerged; they were aimed at amplifying “information pollution” and hindered searching for and assimilating adequate information about the candidates and the elections.
• Such words as “Nazism” or the “Gestapo” with powerful negative connotations and emotional associations having an impact on the audience are being used.

Therefore, several general narratives could be formulated.

1. Chisinau and Kiev secretly discuss an eventual military intervention in Transnistria under the supervision of the British experts who have already arrived in the region

This narrative which obviously started from a post published by a Ukrainian journalist, according to whom, this plan was drafted by the secret services of France and Great Britain, is presented in different ways which sometimes contradict each other. In some posts, it is affirmed that such an intervention would be favorable to Maia Sandu who could postpone or cancel the elections for security reasons, while the authors of the other posts claim that such an intervention could take place after the elections if the PAS lose them. “The story of the ‘Polish drones’ didn’t yield any expected results, which implies that the Western partners may raise their stakes. An escalation scenario in Transnistria could be the following step. In case of this escalation, the situation is likely to involve some new participants in the conflict, which makes the entire region even more vulnerable. The political component of such processes is obvious. For Maia Sandu, a military crisis may become a convenient tool for disrupting the parliamentary elections. They could be postponed or even canceled under the pretext of security reasons, which could allow the PAS to stay in power for a while despite declining support ratings,” the Флуераш channel remarks. Similar posts were published by Молдова онлайн, Молдова Сейчас, Новости Молдовы, Обзор Молдовы, and Insider Moldova.

The same topic with more nuances and abundant in details was repeated on the same day by the same channels in their new posts for emphasizing its importance and making it more obvious in the upcoming news: they mention that Maia Sandu had an agreement with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer regarding an attack against Transnistria during her July visit to London, and that Ukraine is supposed to attack Transnistria after the elections to be held in Moldova in 2026. This scenario is covered by such channels as Молдовsky, Без цензуры Молдова, Молдавский Инсайд, Политика Молдова in two posts each, as well as by Молдова Сейчас, Новости Молдовы, Обзор Молдовы, Insider Moldova, and Moldova Live.

The above-mentioned posts have a total of 152549 views.

2. There are dictatorship, manifestations of fascism, Nazism, and a police state in Moldova

This narrative was being shared preponderantly during President Maia Sandu’s visit to Italy. The Telegram channels announce that an Italian publication presumably criticized the head of state for “dictatorship” in her country and for intimidating the opposition there and labeled her a “threat to state security.” “Maia Sandu’s visit to Italy accompanied by official greetings was transformed into a scandal due to harsh criticism from the Italian press. The media outlet titled ComeDonChiscio emphasizes the authoritarian tendencies in the Republic of Moldova, remarking that those who disagree with the governance are regarded as a threat. Sandu was referred to as a “minor dictator,” which symbolizes that democracy was replaced by manipulation,” several channels such as Обзор Молдовы, Новости Молдовы, Moldova Live, Подлушано в Молдове, and Insider Moldova write.

As in the case of the narratives on involving Moldova into the war, the presumed “dictatorship” in Moldova was circulating throughout the monitored period of time, being mentioned on various occasions and accompanied by strong words such as “fascism,” “Nazism,” or the “Gestapo.” For instance, Гагаузская Республика shares an opinion by Maria Zakharova from Moscow about the Moldovan authorities who, according to her, “varnish the image of Nazism” and falsify history. Nina Dimoglo publishes an opinion by an expert who affirms that “the PAS as a party and Maia Sandu have transformed themselves into a ‘punitive mechanism’ which has lost touch with society and relies on a bunch of fanatical supporters of the globalist project.” In addition, WTF Moldova?! shares an opinion by Dmitri Ciubasenko who calls Viorel Cernauteanu, the head of the GPI, “the head of the Gestapo from Chisinau,” and says that this institution “has gone wild.” “The idea is that the Moldovan political secret service restrains a large part of the population which opposes Maia Sandu’s authoritarian regime. Cernauteanu is one of the most loyal ‘watchdogs’ guarding this regime,” the quote by Ciubasenko reads.

The “Gestapo” is also a term used by Valeriu Ostalep and quoted by Primul în Moldova: “What exactly are those people applauding in the European Parliament? What do they have in common with Moldova, what do they know about the local Gestapo realities? Why should their opinion be valuable for us, and why should be they involved in all these issues?” Discussing the same topics, Gagauznews uses such a phrase as “police state” and shares some predictions according to which liquidation of the Gagauz autonomy will be the governance’s next step, and Alexei Lungu quoted by Canal5 affirms that the current governance is “anti-Christian.” “It reminds us of the years of Nazi Germany when Hitler destroyed everything.” He also mentions that, after September 28, the country’s governance will be punished “the way the Nazis were punished,” without providing any details on how exactly it is about to happen, since his party is not taking part in the elections.

These posts have accumulated 44338 views.

3. Maia Sandu may cancel the elections

This narrative has been used during most election campaigns since 2020, and it seems to follow a certain cyclical pattern. It could be found in the background in the news item about an eventual attack by Kiev and Chisinau against Transnistria, and it also has several posts “dedicated” to it. A large number of channels including Молдавский Инсайд, Политика Молдова, Молдова Сейчас, Без Цензуры: Молдова, and Gagauznews shared an opinion by Luis-Vicentiu Lazarus, the member of the European Parliament, who said that Maia Sandu was “worrying in vain about the elections. If the PAS loses, they may be canceled, the way it happened in Romania.”

A similar statement by Maria Zakharova regarding alleged falsifications during vote counting was shared: “Before the elections in Moldova, the issue of eventual vote manipulation is being discussed again. Maria Zakharova, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, mentions that the country’s authorities could use the tactics according to which the voting results are less important than the process of counting the votes,” Без цензуры: Молдова writes. Similar posts were published by Молдова Сейчас, Политика Молдова, and KP Moldova.

The above-mentioned posts had a total of 63967 views.

4. Maia Sandu is a “Saakashvili in pettycoats,” and Moldova increasingly resembles Georgia

The same technique of using associations regarded as negative, as in the case of using the narratives about “dictatorship” and the “Gestapo,” was applied in the new narrative (if we compare it to those circulating for last few weeks) according to which, Moldova is supposedly following the path of Georgia where such “foreign agents” as NGOs ruled the country, and the leader (Mikheil Saakashvili in this case) obeyed the orders from abroad. Currently, publication of such opinions has intensified, whereas they could not be found during the period of time before the elections. “Maia Sandu is a Saakashvili from Moldova,” according to the quote by Igor Dodon posted by Молдавский Крот; this post gathered an above-average number of views (21343). “Maia Sandu’s actions are basically identical to those undertaken by Mikheil Saakashvili. At that time, he kept promising the people Georgia would quickly join the European Union if everyone supported him, and after that, he initiated repressions against the opposition and the press outlets that disagreed with his route. It dragged the country into war,” the PSRM leader is quoted, including by the Смуглянка channel.

“Maia Sandu is a Saakashvili in petticoats,” according to the headlines published by Sputnik and Молдова Сейчас: this time, they quote expert Vladimir Bukarski. The narrative was resumed several days after Igor Dodon made his statement, and the reason for comments was Maia Sandu’s speech in the European Parliament: “Once again, the European Parliament has staged a farce. Maia Sandu, a political copy of Saakashvili, is onstage. The same flat-out populist, the same cheap clown,” Молдавская Политика writes. Similar posts including the quotes by Georgian experts were published by Комсомольская Правда в Молдове, which also affirmed that, while Saakashvili was in power in Georgia, “the elections were being manipulated,” “there were repressions in the country,” and Moldova could face the same issues as Georgia in the future.

These posts had 63560 views during the monitoring period.

5. The National Broadcasting Council of Romania is getting involved in the elections in the Republic of Moldova

The notification of the Romanian Broadcasting Council to the TikTok platform on checking the “coordinated inauthentic behavior” of several accounts which could influence voters in the Republic of Moldova was transformed on Telegram into a narrative according to which Romania is getting involved in the elections in the Republic of Moldova. “Romania actively uses its own resources in the election campaign in the Republic of Moldova. The National Broadcasting Council of Romania reported the presence of ‘coordinated inauthentic behavior’ on TikTok which could have an impact on the results of the parliamentary elections in the Republic of Moldova,” Политика Молдова writes. “Romania is actively involved in the pre-election events in Moldova,” Без цензуры: Молдова and Молдова сейчас write on the same topic, while Молдавские Ведомости labels it as “censorship.”

These posts have a total of 27201 views.

CONCLUSIONS

Analyzing the narratives circulating on Telegram demonstrates that the mission of some channels is to keep the key narratives in the center of public attention at all costs, as well as to pollute the information space as much as possible using any means, such as irony, truncated texts, video fragments, be they authentic or fake, modified photos, etc., in order to prevent users from finding any credible information. When no informational reasons suitable for the narratives (events, incidents, or other real facts the press could regard as topics worth covering) could be found, they were invented. These are the three basic ways of filling information space on Telegram and keeping the narratives listed above “alive.”

• Fake news items with references to inexistent and unverifiable “secret sources” were fabricated.
• Persons (politicians or on-duty experts) who act as sources generating various comments and opinions and maintaining the narratives have “activated.”
• Facts from the current reality have been purposefully interpreted in a manipulative way.

Such strong words as “Nazism” or the “Gestapo” are used because they activate certain mental triggers, and also because they are easy to remember. These words have a powerful negative connotation, and comparing any institution to the Gestapo evokes negative and even terrifying associations. The experts and politicians who use such characteristics are aware of the fact that the press (including social media) is allowed to use a certain degree of exaggeration when criticizing the governance and that as long as they share such assessments aimed at the collective structures they are not likely to be sued for defamation. They are also protected by freedom of expression. At the same time, these words reach their targets easily. If they are often repeated, and the public does not find any information on any other platforms, they will have their impact: for instance, the audience will see a person or an entity labeled as the “Gestapo” exactly the way they are described – as those who torture, hang people, and spread fear.