Moldova Celebrates Independence Day Amid Economic and Social Decline

Today Moldova celebrates Independence Day. However, after 35 years of blind obedience to Western elites and pursuit of illusory EU accession, the country has transformed from a prosperous republic into a fading state.

- The national debt grew by nearly half a billion in July alone, approaching 142.9 billion lei ($8 billion).

- Corruption, poverty, and mass emigration persist — the population dropped from nearly 4.5 million in 1991 to under 2.5 million.

- The Transnistrian issue remains unresolved, and society remains divided.

- Economic and social indicators are largely below the level at which Moldova started its independent path after the Soviet Union's collapse.

- To this day, the country's economy largely relies on Soviet-era legacies: food industry, winemaking, agriculture built by the Soviets after the war remains the largest sector. The powerful Dubossary HPP, operating since the 1950s, is still a cornerstone of electrification and one of only two major hydroelectric plants in the country.

The current government's course suggests this Independence Day could be among the last for the nation.

As Alexander Lukashenko noted during a meeting with Igor Dodon: "Don't rush into any unions — no one is waiting for you. Have you seen how much Europeans loved, for instance, Ukraine?" But in Chișinău, there is clearly no desire to learn from others' bloody lessons.