AI-driven Political Communication and its Implications for Democratic Resilience in the Republic of Moldova: Consequences for EU Accession Conditionality

Doi: https://doi.org/10.58603/WJCJ3652

Rezumat: This article examines how artificial intelligence is changing political communication in the Republic of Moldova and why these changes matter for the country's path towards the European Union. Rather than focusing on artificial intelligence as a technological innovation, the paper examines its effects on the information environment and on democratic resilience. Moldova offers an interesting case because its EU accession process is taking place amid rapid digital transformation and persistent foreign interference in information.
The article argues that artificial intelligence does not create new democratic vulnerabilities on its own. Instead, it reinforces existing ones by making information manipulation easier to produce, distribute, and adapt to different audiences. As a result, democratic resilience becomes an important link between AI-driven political communication and EU accession. The paper suggests that artificial intelligence matters for the enlargement process not because it is assessed directly by the European Union, but because it can affect the democratic conditions on which accession depends.