Good afternoon from Chisinau! I’ll be spending the next few days in Moldova covering the annual conference for the World Congress of Families—the leading Russian-American Religious Right/social conservative joint project—which kicked off today. 
Among the highlights thus far: Moldovan President Igor Dodon opening the conference, saying that LGBTQ rights should be “strongly discouraged, or even outlawed.”
For those keeping track, there are three speakers at this week’s WCF conference who are, or are connected to, sanctioned Russian officials:
-Yelena Mizulina
-Natalia Yakunina, wife of Vladimir Yakunin
-Alexey Komov, who works directly for Konstantin Malofeev
-Yelena Mizulina
-Natalia Yakunina, wife of Vladimir Yakunin
-Alexey Komov, who works directly for Konstantin Malofeev
From the final day of the WCF conference in Moldova: Pres. Dodon participating in Sunday service (left), alongside WCF head Brian Brown (right).
Best/worst slide from this week’s World Congress of Families conference, on “New Media”:
• Anyone can learn to Tweet.
• But only pious Moldovans can produce unique godly-minded Moldovans.
• Anyone can learn to Tweet.
• But only pious Moldovans can produce unique godly-minded Moldovans.
Next year’s location for the 2019 World Congress of Families conference was announced this weekend: Verona, Italy.
After three years in Eastern Europe/Caucasus, back to the EU the conference goes.
After three years in Eastern Europe/Caucasus, back to the EU the conference goes.
This quote from Brian Brown, the American Religious Right organizer of this weekend's conference, was pretty remarkable -- sums up why far-right American Christians continue looking to Russia as well as any:
