German Minister of State in the Foreign Ministry Werner Hoyer paid a one-day visit to Moldova on Dec. 21, meeting with Moldovan Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Iurie Leanca. The visit by Hoyer — an important figure in German government and a mainstay for the last 20 years in foreign affairs of center-right German governments — indicates Germany has real interests in Moldova. It also suggests Berlin is not satisfied leaving the formation of a pro-European government to just Poland and Sweden, whose foreign ministers — Radislaw Sikorski and Carl Bildt, respectively — visited Moldova on Dec. 8. Hoyer's visit is also meant to signal Russia that Germany has not forgotten about Moldova, and that Berlin can throw its weight around in the strategic country, too. Hoyer's trip comes as Moldova continues the process of forming a ruling coalition following contentious parliamentary elections in November. The country remains split between the pro-Russian Communist Party and an array of pro-Western, or opportunistic, parties that formerly comprised the ruling Alliance for European Integration (AEI). While the coalition wrangling continues, Russia has thrown its weight behind a Communist/Democratic Party coalition, which would join former President Vladimir Voronin with Marian Lupu, both of whom have shown pro-Russian leanings. The Europeans, on the other hand, favor excluding the Communists and retaining a pro-European coalition, a message delivered during Sikorski and Bildt's visit. But Poland and Sweden, although leaders of the thus-far underwhelming European Union Eastern Partnership policy, are not exactly European geopolitical heavyweights. They cannot alone offer the financial and political incentives for Moldova to align with the EU. When deciding whether to align with Russia or Europe, Moldovan politicians want to know that Europe is committed to a pro-European Moldova at the highest echelon of power, which means Berlin. For Berlin to dispatch a statesman of Hoyer's heft thus can be taken as a sign that Germany is getting involved in Moldova more directly and has decided to proactively support the creation of a pro-European coalition in Chisinau. This is not Berlin's first foray into the small, but strategic, country. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has listed the breakaway republic of Transdniestria as a key test to Russia's cooperation with Europe under the guise of a possible European Security Treaty. The Moldova foray, however, represents Germany's most direct move in the region. Actively supporting a pro-European government in Moldova as opposed to leaving the matter to Poland and Sweden could signal Russia that Germany has not forgotten about the contested former Soviet peripheral region. While Berlin's moves in this regard thus far have been subtle, Germany could choose to become more active in the region — and the Moldovan arena will be one of the most significant tests of the ongoing German-Russian dynamic in the upcoming year. The ultimate makeup of the Moldovan government is no longer just significant in terms of who has more influence in Chisinau, Russia or the Europeans, but as very concrete evidence of who has more power to influence the affairs of states on the borderlands of Europe and Russia in broader terms.