A sign on a road, financed by the European Union, outside Comrat, the capital of the traditionally pro-Russia region of Gagauzia.
Photographer: Andrei Pungovschi/BloombergPutin and Poverty Divide Voters as Moldova Plots Path to Europe
Russia is trying to bring the former Soviet state back into its sphere of influence while European leaders are promising EU membership.
A billboard along the road between the Moldovan town of Calarasi and the capital Chisinau contains no slogan or imperative, just a simple statement of fact: “Part of your electricity bill is paid by the government with the help of the European Union,” it declares.
The message also reveals the dilemma facing Moldova’s pro-EU ruling party ahead of this weekend’s parliamentary election: How to sell closer ties with the West while a cost of living crisis bites in one of Europe’s poorest countries.