The events gathered more than 200 students, professors, and media professionals, providing them with the opportunity to hear first-hand about what it means to practice journalism under the increasingly difficult conditions in Russia.
In his lectures, Thumann spoke about what it takes to remain in Moscow as a foreign correspondent, about the limited access to information and the bureaucratic barriers imposed on journalists. In his view, state media in Russia are not simply biased – they are now an instrument of deliberate disinformation and far from what they used to be in the 1990s or early 2000s. “Putin is creating a new Iron Curtain and has no interest in peace”, he stated.
Both Adenauer Lectures in Bălți and Chișinău were organised by the KAS Media Programme South East Europe just days before Moldova’s parliamentary elections on September 28th, 2025. With the political climate being marked by Russian disinformation campaigns, the lectures served as both a reminder of the risks posed by manipulated information and as an emphasis on democratic values and independent journalism.