Eurovision 2026 scandals put Moldova in the spotlight
Eurovision 2026 in Vienna will be remembered less for the music than for a series of scandals involving Moldova.
The country finished in eighth place. However, most attention focused on the national jury vote, Bulgaria’s victory with the involvement of Russian producer Philipp Kirkorov, and a live broadcast incident in which Moldova was portrayed as a dog.
Scandal one: three points for Romania, 12 for Poland
Moldova’s professional jury, whose members even cultural specialists struggled to name, gave Romania only three points. At the same time, the maximum 12 points went to Poland.
Unionists from the ruling PAS party have already demanded that Moldova “repent” before Romania and dismiss the director general of Moldova 1.
Meanwhile, social media users noted that shortly before the contest, Poland had helped secure the release of two SISofficers and had begun working with Chișinău on a military cooperation agreement. The EU delegate in Moldova, Iwona Piórko, also comes from Poland.
Critics therefore asked whether the vote should be seen as another case of Moldova following an external instruction.
Scandal two: Bulgaria’s victory and Kirkorov’s role
As noted earlier, Bulgaria won the contest. The Bulgarian contestant DARA was prepared by Philipp Kirkorov, a People’s Artist of the Russian Federation, who had previously produced Moldovan performers, including DoReDos and Natalia Gordienko.
In Moldova, his involvement in previous years was often linked to the country’s failure to secure high placements. This time, however, the same team brought victory to Bulgaria.
Commenting on his role in Bulgaria’s win, Kirkorov said he could not refuse his “little homeland”. He also recalled that his Dream Team has been working for more than 20 years, and that personal attendance at the contest is not essential. What matters, he said, is “that the work continues”.
The situation was made even more striking by the fact that Bulgaria recently got a prime minister whom Bulgarian Soros-linked activists have labelled pro-Russian. For official Brussels, that is hardly a politically correct recipe for victory.
Scandal three: a chihuahua bark used to describe Moldova
During the broadcast, the host asked a colleague to show how he imagined the Republic of Moldova. Without hesitation, the man began imitating the bark of a small dog – a chihuahua.
The moment went largely unnoticed amid arguments over the jury scores. Yet for critics, it briefly captured the real attitude towards Moldova inside the European Union.
PAS commentators claim a “Moldovan victory”
Another debate unfolded behind the scenes of the voting. Local PAS propagandists online declared a “victory for Moldova” in Vienna, suggesting that Moldova’s and Romania’s points should be added together.
By their logic, the combined total would have been enough to overtake Bulgaria. Critics compared this approach to hypothetically adding together the scores of the former Soviet republics.
