Agrégateur de flux

On Thursday, 16 October 2025, the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) and the Committee on Development (DEVE) will organise a joint public hearing on "Global Gateway – past impacts and future orientation". This hearing brings together experts and stakeholders to discuss the achievements and challenges of the Global Gateway strategy, launched by the Commission in 2021.

The hearing will allow Members to take stock of the results so far, and to provide guidance for future implementation. The hearing's takes will contribute to the ongoing work in AFET and DEVE on an own-initiative report on Global Gateway, which will also address the governance structure, the geopolitical considerations of the approach, as well as the emerging relation with the EU's development cooperation. The own initiative report is expected to be presented on 20 November, the vote in Plenary is planned for March 2026.
Location : Antall 6Q2
Draft programme
Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

On Thursday, 16 October 2025, the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) and the Committee on Development (DEVE) will organise a joint public hearing on "Global Gateway – past impacts and future orientation". This hearing brings together experts and stakeholders to discuss the achievements and challenges of the Global Gateway strategy, launched by the Commission in 2021.

The hearing will allow Members to take stock of the results so far, and to provide guidance for future implementation. The hearing's takes will contribute to the ongoing work in AFET and DEVE on an own-initiative report on Global Gateway, which will also address the governance structure, the geopolitical considerations of the approach, as well as the emerging relation with the EU's development cooperation. The own initiative report is expected to be presented on 20 November, the vote in Plenary is planned for March 2026.
Location : Antall 6Q2
Draft programme
Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

Credit: Ramil Sitdikov/Reuters via Gallo Images

By Andrew Firmin
LONDON, Oct 9 2025 (IPS)

Democracy was the winner and Russia the loser in Moldova’s 28 September election. The incumbent pro-Europe Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) won a parliamentary majority on just over half of the vote, while support for a pro-Russia coalition collapsed to a record low. The result came in the face of Russia’s most intense attempt yet to influence an election, with a propaganda and disinformation operation allegedly orchestrated by Ilan Shor, a disgraced Moldovan oligarch who fled to Russia to escape jail time for his role in a massive fraud.

Moldova, a landlocked country with a population of under 2.4 million, rarely commands headlines. But its location, sandwiched between EU member Romania and war-torn Ukraine, makes it prime territory for an ongoing tussle over the future of former communist states.

Since 2009, every Moldovan prime minister has been committed to European integration, and Moldova formally applied to join the EU following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. As support for pro-Russia parties has declined at the ballot box, Russia has increasingly turned to covert influence operations, with Shor the reported lynchpin.

Shor is believed to have been a key figure in Moldova’s biggest scandal: in November 2014, around US$1 billion was fraudulently transferred from three banks in fake loans. The banks went bankrupt, forcing the government to provide a bailout equivalent to one eighth of GDP.

Shor, chair of one of the banks, was accused of being among the masterminds. In 2017, he was convicted of money laundering, fraud and breach of trust and sentenced to seven and a half years in jail. But in 2019, while under house arrest pending appeal, he fled the country, first to Israel and then Russia, where he now has citizenship. Shor’s only hope of returning without going to jail is a pro-Russia government, and he’s able to use his riches to promote his cause.

Shor was accused of paying people to take part in protests triggered by high energy prices when Russia used gas supplies as a weapon, slashing them in the winter of 2022-2023. Ahead of the 2024 presidential election and a referendum on the EU, he promised to pay people to register for his campaign to oppose the referendum or publish anti-EU posts; the government said he’d paid close to US$16 million to 130,000 people, sharing instructions on how spread disinformation on the messaging app Telegram. The 2024 campaign was awash with disinformation, including deepfake videos and false claims about President Maia Sandu. Fake social media accounts proliferated, opposing the EU and Sandu and promoting pro-Russia views.

The 2025 campaign saw a further intensification of these influence efforts. A secret network, again coordinated via Telegram, offered to pay people for posting pro-Russia propaganda and anti-PAS disinformation on Facebook and TikTok, and to help carry out selective polling that would overstate pro-Russia support, potentially as part of a plan to dispute the results should they be close. A BBC investigation found links between this network, Shor and one of his organisations, Evrazia, with money sent via a Russian state-owned bank used by its defence ministry.

The network ran online training sessions on how to use ChatGPT to produce social media posts, including those making ludicrous claims that Sandu is involved in child trafficking and the EU would force people to change sexual orientation. At least 90 TikTok accounts receiving over 23 million views since the start of the year were involved. The investigation found no comparable disinformation campaign in support of PAS.

Russia also evidently tried to target Moldova’s million-strong diaspora, who tend to favour pro-EU parties. People in diaspora communities were offered cash, evidently from Russian sources, to serve as election observers, with large bonuses for providing any evidence of fraud. This seemed to be an attempt to promote doubt about the integrity of the diaspora vote.

The influence campaign extended to the Orthodox Church: last year, Moldovan clergy were treated to an all-expenses-paid trip to holy sites in Russia, then promised money if they took to social media to warn their followers about the dangers of EU integration. They duly established over 90 Telegram channels pushing out almost identical content positioning the EU as a threat to traditional family values.

A few days before the vote, Moldovan authorities detained 74 people suspected of planning post-election violence. Authorities claimed they’d travelled to Serbia, under the guise of an Orthodox pilgrimage, to be trained in how to resist security forces, break through cordons and use weapons. On election day, officials reported attempted cyberattacks and bomb scares at polling stations in Moldova and abroad.

Challenges ahead

Moldova’s democratic institutions have survived a crucial test, repaying efforts to strengthen the country’s defences against Russian interference made since the 2024 votes. But the struggle for Moldova’s future is far from over. As it moves closer to the EU, Russia isn’t simply going to walk away. Even dirtier tricks may come.

Meanwhile the government faces many other problems. In one of Europe’s poorest countries, people are struggling with the high cost of living. Public services have come under strain as Moldova hosts proportionately more Ukrainian refugees than anywhere else. Corruption concerns haven’t been adequately addressed. Many young people are seeking better lives abroad.

In combating future Russian influence attempts, the government faces the challenge of striking the right balance on regulating social media and political financing, strengthening its intelligence services and building stronger social media literacy and awareness of disinformation. It will need help from EU countries, as it will to further modernise its energy infrastructure, including through more investments in renewable energy to disarm one of Russia’s most potent tools.

Moldova’s hopes of EU membership will rest on its progress in addressing these challenges. Even then, as the experience of Hungary shows, becoming an EU member doesn’t guarantee protection against the dangers of authoritarianism. But there’s no hope for democracy and human rights should Moldova fall under Russia’s grip.

Andrew Firmin is CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.

For interviews or more information, please contact research@civicus.org

 

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');  

Kommission/ Griechenland
Vertragsverletzung eines Mitgliedstaats: Da Griechenland einem Urteil des Gerichtshofs aus dem Jahr 2014 nicht nachgekommen ist, werden finanzielle Sanktionen gegen Griechenland verhängt

Commission v Greece
Failure of a Member State to fulfil its obligations: Greece is ordered to pay financial penalties for failing to comply with a 2014 judgment of the Court of Justice

Bizottság kontra Görögország
Failure of a Member State to fulfil its obligations: Greece is ordered to pay financial penalties for failing to comply with a 2014 judgment of the Court of Justice

Commission / Grèce (Exécution de l’arrêt sur la décharge de Zakynthos)
Manquement d’État : n’ayant pas exécuté un arrêt de la Cour de 2014, la Grèce est condamnée à des sanctions pécuniaires

ARD Das Erste: München (ots) - Ein Geburtstagsdinner, ein Mord - und das Publikum ist als Ermittler live dabei: ARD und ORF präsentieren erste Details zum innovativen TV-Special: "Tödliches Spiel - Das Live-Krimi-Dinner" ist ein packendes Live-Krimievent, das ...

Credit: UN Web TV

By Gina Romero
BOGOTA, Colombia, Oct 9 2025 (IPS)

The collapse of aid architecture is one of the greatest dangers for civic space. This shift is not accidental but systemic, reflecting deliberate policy choices – not only by the US but accelerated by its decisions- that prioritize security agendas over human rights and solidarity.

Aid cuts, securitization, and geopolitical rivalries have led to the defunding of grassroots organizations, especially those led by women, LGBTQI groups, and marginalized communities. As a result, associations that once filled critical gaps are disappearing. These dynamics as existential because without resources, protections, and solidarity, civil society cannot survive—let alone flourish.

This is the center of my more recent report, that will be presented at the UN General Assembly on October 16th.

Civil society’s weakening has direct consequences for human rights protection and democratic participation. Without independent associations, accountability mechanisms collapse, and corruption flourishes. The report highlights that marginalized groups are disproportionately affected, as grassroots organizations are often their only safety net. The dismantling of solidarity also jeopardizes progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

For example, women’s organizations that once advanced gender equality and access to reproductive health are closing. LGBTQI associations providing health services face funding cuts. Environmental defenders, crucial in climate justice, are left exposed.

Thus, the report warns that the rollback of aid and civic freedoms undermines not only democracy but also global commitments to equality and sustainability.

The report makes a call for urgent action to rebuild international solidarity and redesign the architecture of aid in ways that strengthen rather than weaken civic space. The vision is for a people-centered, rights-based, and sustainable system of cooperation. Key elements include:

Guaranteeing equitable access to resources: ensuring groups with high vulnerabilities, have direct and fair access to funding. Includes aid models that channels resources to local civil society, avoiding intermediaries, and simplified bureaucratic procedures.

Repealing restrictive laws and counter-terrorism measures: ending the misuse of security frameworks—such as counter-terrorism and anti-money laundering— and repealing laws that stigmatize NGOs as “foreign agents” or limit their ability to operate freely.

Ensuring meaningful participation of civil society: in multilateral decision-making, as equal partners shaping priorities, including global financing mechanisms and SDG implementation frameworks.

Aligning aid with human rights and civic space protection: Condition aid and credits on compliance with obligations to protect freedoms and rights and promote long-term, flexible funding instead of short-term project-based support.

Protecting digital freedoms and resisting securitization: Safeguarding the use of technologies, including spyware and facial recognition technologies, for association and assembly while preventing its misuse for surveillance and repression.

Reimagining solidarity: Shifting from a charity-based approach to one of global justice and shared responsibility; supporting civil society is not an act of benevolence but a legal and moral obligation under international human rights law.

IPS UN Bureau

 

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');  

Excerpt:

Gina Romero is UN Special Rapporteur for the rights to freedom of assembly and of association.

valantic GmbH: München (ots) - Der DACH-Raum bleibt ein dynamisches Innovationsfeld: Startups gewinnen für börsennotierte Unternehmen weiter an strategischer Bedeutung. Das zeigt der Startup- und Innovationsmonitor 2025 des Digital Consulting-, Solutions- und ...

Lors de la crise migratoire qui début en 2014 en Bulgarie, le phénomène des « chasseurs de migrants » prenait de l'ampleur. Des délinquants aux groupes organisés, cette tendance dominait les réseaux sociaux et les médias bulgares il y a une décennie. Depuis, certains ont su tirer profit de leur notoriété.

- Articles / Personnalités, Populations, minorités et migrations, Une - Diaporama, Courrier des Balkans, Bulgarie, Migrants Balkans

NORMA: Nürnberg (ots) - Auf NORMA können sich die Kundinnen und Kunden verlassen... und das nun auch im Käseregal! Der Lebensmittel-Discounter sorgt ab sofort dafür, dass das Brot noch leckerer und die Pizza noch saftiger wird. Mehr als 20 Käsesorten ...

ProSieben MAXX: Unterföhring (ots) - Premiere für ein Bayern-Juwel. Tom Bischof spielt zum ersten Mal für die deutsche U21-Nationalmannschaft. In der EM-Qualifikation trifft das DFB-Team am Freitag, 10. Oktober, auf Griechenland. ProSieben MAXX und Joyn ...

RTLZWEI: München (ots) - - Pietro spielt seinen neuen Song "Fuego" in der Villa. - Die Jungs ziehen in den Members Club. - "Love Island VIP" am 9. Oktober 2025 um 20:15 Uhr bei RTLZWEI und sieben Tage vorab auf RTL+ In der "Love Island VIP"-Villa liegen ...

bpa - Bundesverband privater Anbieter sozialer Dienste e.V.: Berlin (ots) - bpa fordert Bund, Länder und Kommunen auf, auch die eigene Effizienz in den Blick zu nehmen Mit einer Auftaktveranstaltung hat das Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales den Dialogprozess mit Ländern und Kommunen zur ...

Drohnen über Flughäfen stellen für Europa ein Problem dar. Abwehrtechniken sind in der Schweiz teilweise vorhanden, klare Regeln dazu aber nicht.

Gregors Superfood: Hamburg (ots) - Wer glutenfreies Brot kauft, kennt oft den Kompromiss: bröselig, nährstoffarm, geschmacklich fad. Gregor's Superfood beweist, dass es anders und vor allem besser geht: mit hochwertigen Superfood-Zutaten, 100 % glutenfrei, vegan, ...

À l’occasion de la Fête de la science, c’est un appel à l’action que nous voulons lancer : faites de la science !

ABDA Bundesvgg. Dt. Apothekerverbände: Berlin (ots) - Die Apotheken vor Ort wollen sich stärker in die gesundheitliche Prävention und Früherkennung einbringen, vor allem bei Herz-Kreislauf-Erkrankungen. "Apotheken können Menschen erreichen, die nur selten in eine Arztpraxis gehen. ...

Seasonax: Wien (ots) - Neue Chancen für Fintechs, Banken und Broker Wer saisonale Muster an den Finanzmärkten versteht, hat einen entscheidenden Wissensvorsprung. Genau hier setzt Seasonax, der weltweit führende Anbieter für Saisonalitätsanalysen mit ...