Valentina Ursu is a correspondent for RFE/RL's Moldovan Service.
Moldovan Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita said that, if the fighting in neighboring Ukraine spills over into her country, it would mean that a state, which never wanted to join NATO and did not make any efforts to do so, is drawn into the war.
Analysts say Moscow is looking for ways to maintain influence in Moldova without being overly involved.
The strong victory for the center-right party founded by President Maia Sandu in Moldova’s parliamentary elections has raised hopes that years of debilitating political gridlock may be coming to an end. But serious challenges from what citizens say is an entrenched kleptocracy remain.
Under outgoing President Igor Dodon, Moldova lived in a state of self-imposed isolation, engaging in substantial dialogue only with Moscow. President-elect Maia Sandu has pledged a more comprehensive approach based on the poor, landlocked country's national interests.
As Moldova approaches its second week of dual power, the cabinet backed by parliament has called for a public show of support on June 16.
Moldovan presidential candidate Maia Sandu has suggested her opponent, Igor Dodon, made treasonous comments in saying that Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula is now effectively part of Russia, two years after being annexed by Moscow.
Igor Dodon, who won the first round of Moldova's presidential election and is seen as having strong leanings toward Russia, says he will seek to maintain good relations with both Brussels and Moscow if elected.
After two months of bruising political wrangling, Moldova has installed a pro-Western minority government that is dependent on the support of the unpredictable Communist Party. But this makeshift resolution could end up derailing Chisinau's course toward Europe.
On November 30, voters will weigh in on the European-integration path Moldova has followed actively since 2009. But the country is deeply divided, and forces supporting closer relations with Moscow and the Russia-led customs union are making themselves heard.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin says Moldova's breakaway Transdniester region is under "economic blockade" and has summoned a Russian government meeting to discuss how to provide aid to the region's 200,000 Russian-speakers.
Voters in the Moldovan region of Gagauzia have gone to the polls to express what many predict will be strong support for joining a Russia-led customs union instead of continuing relatively rapid progress in EU integration.
About 10 percent of the graduating students in the Gagauz Autonomous Region of Moldova failed their final exams in Romanian language and literature this year. The poor showing sent tremors through the fault lines separating the tiny Gagauz minority from the rest of the country.
Officials in Moldova and Georgia are reacting with concern to speculation that the EU is poised to remove special representatives appointed to their regions. If confirmed, the change would signal a major downgrading in the EU's strategic interest in both Chisinau and the countries of the South Caucasus.
The leadership of Moldova's ruling Communist Party faces a crucial split just one day before lawmakers in Chisinau are due to meet for a final attempt to elect a president. Marian Lupu's harsh criticism of the party could shift the balance of power toward the opposition and make new legislative elections inevitable.
