The election comes at a key moment, says Moldovan leader writer George Damian, because –

… it is a secret for no one that Russia hopes for a government in Chişinău that will accept the presence of Russian troops in Transnistria. [...] This situation explains all the events currently affecting Moldova.

The alternative, however, would be, he concludes –

… to keep the current coalition [Alliance for European Integration, AIE] while aiming for the European Union [...] because, in spite of its problems, Moldova can join the EU in the near future [...] The Union evolves, principles are discussed, solutions are sought, but it will not disappear and Moldavia has the opportunity to join this community of States.

Moldova, which aims to join the EU and wants to be included in the Eastern Partnership, is increasingly specialising in "events that never take place", remarks the daily. There have been several failed attempts to elect a president and a referendum to see if he should be elected directly by the people, which was invalidated by a low turnout… Nothing is working out. "Well done, politicians! When are we going to meet? We have some business to settle…", announces Timpul.

Until now, points out El País, in its approach to countries like Egypt and Tunisia "the EU strategy has been based on the principle of ‘security in exchange for millions of euros.’” The parameters that have now been announced -- free elections, freedom of speech in the press, an independent judiciary, the fight against corruption, and democratic control of security and armed forces -- will enable Europe to measure the level of democracy in these countries. The Madrid daily notes that the plan unveiled by the European diplomacy chief also includes measures for the control of migration flows. However, it points out that "Ashton has denied that the plan offers money to prevent immigration."

As Vanity Fair explains, delocalization has enabled drug companies to take advantage of conditions that are less strict and less expensive when conducting clinical trials which will “help persuade the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to declare the drugs safe and effective for Americans.” In 2008, 80 percent of products submitted for approval to the FDA were tested outside the United States: in all 58,788 trials, of which 876 were conducted in Romania, 589 in Ukraine and 716 in Turkey. Estonia, Poland, Russia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Croatia are also considered to be good locations for off-shore trials.

The lack of proper regulatory framework has meant that many of these trials have proved to be deadly. The magazine sites the example of a flu-vaccine trial  conducted in a hostel for the homeless in Grudziadz, Poland. The subjects, who were paid two dollars for participating in the programme, “thought they were getting a regular flu shot. They were not. At least 20 of them died.”

Hence the European Commission’s decision to relaunch its information and prevention campaign. Its efforts will chiefly target Eastern Europe, where the problem is more acute: nearly one million Russians, 1.1% of the population, are infected. The object is to encourage HIV testing. In the European Union, 30% of the seropositives don’t even know they’ve contracted the virus and inadvertently continue to infect others. This figure is as high as 70% in some Eastern European countries, such as the Ukraine, Moldova and Russia.

According to the economists featured in the columns of Evenimentul Zilei, the new era heralded by these developments will be "a very promising one" for the state, which is thought to be Europe's poorest country. The EU is Moldova's main trading partner, but "Russia and Ukraine also have major interests in the market of the former Soviet republic." Now Romania and the EU will have the opportunity to make Moldova "an interesting destination for investors".