The Trump syndrome and the Maia Sandu antidote: lessons for Europe’s small states and middle powers from Moldova’s international leadership

Moldovan President Maia Sandu at a press conference with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Chisinau on May 31st, 2023. Photo: Ducu Radionoff / Shutterstock

To say that the second Trump administration has revived a spheres-of-influence logic in the international system is already a cliché. Yet clichés become clichés for a reason: they underline patterns one cannot ignore. The neo-royalist politics of “might makes right”, where deals between strongmen and “direct dial diplomacy” replace institutional arrangements, is back in the play. This is the “Trump Syndrome”. While malign superpowers, like Russia, rejoice in its logic, small states face unprecedented existential angst. Clearly, this international climate is not ideal for young democracies, liminal states and middle powers. However, counter-examples still seem to emerge.

Moldova’s example is particularly impressive. As the Trump Syndrome takes shape, this small state articulates its silent but smart defensive. A clear example of the “Global East” and for decades tagged as a buffer between Russia’s neo-Eurasian ambition and the promise of European integration, the country has harnessed, ever since 2020, its pathway of democratic renewal and EU integration. Its most recent parliamentary elections, under unprecedented Russian hybrid scrutiny, reconfirmed the state’s European vector. However, while Russia is sharpening its hybrid arsenal and this new international climate threatens its agency, Maia Sandu, Moldova’s president, is rebranding the country’s resilience toolkit. This is what I call the “Sandu Antidote”.

Moldova’s recipe in a nutshell

The Maia Sandu Antidote reflects, in simple terms, a small state’s power to infuse international thought leadership. While faced with structural vulnerabilities and emerging threats, Moldova’s elites and civil society showcase authentic fortitude. In a concert of international alarmism, Maia Sandu proves that small states can still resist – and thrive – even in adverse conditions. Here is how she and, implicitly, Moldova, does it.

• “Freedom of expression is for individuals, not for armies of bots” – from a platform of interference to a hub of resilience

When asked recently about the Judiciary Committee of the US House of Representatives’ report on Europe’s alleged electoral censorship of the internet, Maia Sandu’s answer was simple, but solid: “Freedom of expression is for individuals, not for fake accounts or bots.” This discursive clarity, coming from a liminal geopolitical actor, is impressive. While making the case for Moldova’s digital agency, President Sandu does not shy away from pointing out the big tech hegemony and malign foreign actors.

According to official reports of Moldovan security institutions, Russia has tested out a novel paradigm of informational manipulation and electoral interference in 2024. As the referendum on European integration and presidential elections unfolded, about a tenth of votes were bought by Russian-backed schemes. The hybrid toolkit also expanded its range from AI cloning of TikTok accounts to social engineering models on Telegram. The institutional response for the 2025 parliamentary elections was defined accordingly.

A year later, Moldova brands itself as a role model of digital resilience and election integrity. From creating a special unit dedicated to tracking the illegal financing of campaigns through to cryptocurrency and harnessing narrative resilience in strategic communications, Moldova’s authorities have levelled up their game. Today, they are exporting it to countries facing similar challenges, such as Armenia. To paraphrase Sandu, while big tech platforms own more political capital than entire states in this global climate, it is imperative to advocate for algorithmic accountability.

• An anti-hybrid “Coalition of the Willing” – on Moldova’s digital norms entrepreneurship

In her Munich Security Conference statement, Maia Sandu has launched an interesting idea. Inspired by the “Coalition of the Willing”, an alliance of 35 European states which support Ukraine militarily in its war effort, she has proposed the creation of another coalition to fight foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI). Currently navigated by international media as a promising alternative to Russia’s orchestrated hybrid influence strategy, Chișinău’s proposal might just become the avant-garde for Europe’s digital defence.

Moldova’s model of democratic resilience has been embraced globally. In December 2025, for instance, Maia Sandu was nominated by The Telegraph, a British outlet, as its “Global Leader of the Year”. In her interview for the publication, Sandu has expressed her intention to export Moldova’s lessons to other countries. She has reiterated this message in multiple international frameworks, be it the Paris Peace Forum, the European Parliament, or in front of the Venice Commission.

• European integration as a security doctrine – discursive clarity

While Eurosceptic movements mount across EU Member States, Moldova injects ideational momentum into the European project. President Sandu portrays the EU as the core of her administration’s security doctrine. Moreover, she amplifies pressure on EU institutions to develop unorthodox patterns to accelerate enlargement policy. Two-tier accession and membership is not an option for her; this is why she never misses an opportunity to deliver clear messages to EU stakeholders. When asked how she would vote in a referendum for reunification with Romania on the renowned “The Rest Is Politics” podcast, Sandu said she would vote “Yes”. The reason? Beyond the special relationship and common identity shared by the two countries, her main reasons are belonging to the European family and amplified security guarantees for her small state in this fragile geopolitical ecosystem.

As a fresh but inspirational instance of democratic resilience, Moldova’s achievements gain impressive traction. Maia Sandu’s nomination by Arlid Hermstad, a Norwegian MP and leader of the local Green Party, for the Nobel Peace Prize, is reflective of this international outreach. Her rejection of the proposal and her counter-nomination of Ukrainian war prisoners only further show the country’s diplomacy of compassion. Compared to Trump’s explicit solicitation of the Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado’s own award, the contrast could not have been more striking.

Lessons for Europe’s small states and middle powers

To deal with the Trump Syndrome in this international climate is an existential challenge for most European states. When the White House questions Greenland’s self-determination and Denmark’s territorial integrity; rages against the EU’s digital norms; and contests Ukraine’s agency and further victimizes it, Washington’s long-term allies from Central, South-East and Eastern Europe face waves of (ontological) insecurity. Caught between Russia’s increasingly sophisticated hybrid warfare, domestic anxieties and nativist ideological exports from the US, this new world order does not empower their agency.

However, small states can still resist and succeed, as Moldova’s example proves. Three elements seem to distinguish Maia Sandu’s leadership: narrative innovation, resilience entrepreneurship and alliance-building. When it comes to narrative innovation, the recipe is simple: activate the country’s soft power resources, deploy thought leadership internationally and “storytell” your country’s perspective. On the front of resilience entrepreneurship, innovating is also key. It is necessary to develop new, creative norms to tackle both hybrid interference and foreign influence and reconfirm the country’s values-based trajectory. In the spectrum of alliance building, launching new international formats to support one’s cause is the solution to dealing with far-reaching challenges.

Small states and middle powers need to embrace the Sandu Antidote. How? By creating ideational coalitions. One example could be a “Digital Shield” for Europe’s democracy, which could help Eastern Europe develop resilience in front of Russia’s looming hybrid threat and the ideological quest of the US. Moreover, shaping platforms of cooperation for resilience entrepreneurship by states such as Romania and Poland, along with Member States and candidates across the region, shall enforce a shared response to contemporary challenges.

While the Trump Syndrome takes over the global order, and small states are caught in the midst of this effort, the Sandu Antidote says “not so fast”. Liminal states and middle powers need to find their inner reservoirs of resilience and activate them. This is not a buffer zone in global geopolitics; our region is driven by democratic desire and European ideation. That is why Moldova’s leadership matters beyond borders: it shows that even the most fragile of states can overcome barriers and reaffirm their trajectory, however malign external conditions are in the current climate.

Răzvan Foncea is a Policy Researcher and Strategist at Edge Institute, a Romanian think tank in the sphere of digital transformation, and holds a Master in European Affairs and Social Policy from Sciences Po Paris (2025). He has worked as a parliamentary advisor in the Chamber of Deputies of Romania, and has gained multilateral experience as Romania’s UN Youth Delegate and as an intern for the President of UNESCO’s General Conference. He has completed training programs at the Clinton Global Initiative University, the European Academy of Diplomacy (Warsaw), and through a U.S. Department of State scholarship at Arizona State University. His research navigates Romanian and Moldovan foreign policy, European integration, East European and Eurasian geopolitics, soft power and public diplomacy strategies.

European integration, geopolitics, global order, Maia Sandu, Moldova