Between war and European integrationSince the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the geopolitical situation has dominated Moldovan public debate. However, those elections would have turned out differently were it not for the votes of the Moldovan diaspora, which today numbers approximately one million people. While in 1991 the population was nearly four and a half million, today fewer than three million people inhabit the country. Moldova, hit by a severe economic crisis shortly after independence, was long described as the poorest country in Europe. In the 2010s, part of the diaspora began participating in domestic politics from afar.