On Monday, October 21st, Maia Sandu, the pro-Western president of Moldova, took the lead in the first round of the presidential election. However, the debate over whether to join the European Union, which was held simultaneously with the election, was fiercely contested. The “agree” votes to apply for EU membership gained a slight edge after trailing for hours.
This election has been overshadowed by Russian interference. While it was widely expected that the EU membership referendum would pass in this country adjacent to Ukraine, the “oppose” side maintained a significant lead until the “agree” side gained the upper hand with a narrow margin after overseas votes were counted.
According to reports by AFP, with over 98% of the votes counted, voters approved the goal of joining the EU into the constitution by a slim margin of 50.08%.
During this election, Moldovan authorities claimed to have uncovered evidence of foreign interference. Amid the uncertainty of the referendum results, Maia Sandu stated, “Criminal groups, in conjunction with foreign forces hostile to our national interests, have used millions of euros to spread lies and propaganda attacking our country through deceitful means, creating uncertainty and instability for our citizens and our nation.”
“We have clear evidence that these criminal groups attempted to buy 300,000 votes, a massive fraudulent scheme,” Sandu said. “Their purpose is to disrupt democratic processes.”
She expressed that Moldova’s “freedom and democracy are under unprecedented attack.”
In the presidential election with 11 candidates, initial voting results did not lead to any candidate securing a majority. Sandu, garnering nearly 42% of the votes, took the lead.
It is expected that Sandu will compete against the new pro-Russian former prosecutor Alexander Stoianoglo in the runoff on November 3rd.
As these two crucial votes approach, Moldovan authorities have repeatedly stated that Moscow has intensified its “hybrid warfare” operations, seeking to destabilize Moldova and hinder its accession to the EU. These accusations include funding pro-Russian opposition groups, spreading false information, interfering in local elections, and supporting a large-scale vote-buying scheme.
Earlier this week, John Kirby, a spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council, expressed concern over Russian interference, stating, “Russia is actively disrupting Moldova’s elections and its integration with Europe.”
Kirby mentioned, “Over the past few months, Moscow has injected tens of millions of dollars to influence Moldova’s presidential election.”
“We assess that this funding is used to support their preferred parties and spread false information on social media favoring these parties in the campaign,” he said.
In early October, Moldovan law enforcement revealed that exiled pro-Russian businessman Ilan Shor, currently residing in Russia, orchestrated a large-scale vote-buying scheme that paid 1,500,000 euros (approximately 16,200,000 USD) to 130,000 individuals to disrupt these two votes.
Shor is accused of embezzling 1 billion USD from Moldovan banks and was convicted in absentia last year, receiving a 15-year prison sentence. He denies the charges. Moldova has requested Shor’s extradition from Russia, but a decision is pending.
Last Thursday, Moldovan authorities thwarted another plot where over 100 Moldovan youths were trained by a private military group in Moscow on how to incite unrest during the elections. Police stated that some of them participated in “high-level training at guerrilla camp” in Serbia and Bosnia, with four individuals detained for 30 days.
On Sunday, October 20th, Sandu cast her vote in the capital, stating to the media, “Moldovans must choose their own destiny, not leave it to others, much less to be decided by dirty money or lies.”
Moldova, a former Soviet republic that declared independence in August 1991, has a population of approximately 2.6 million. After Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Moldova applied to join the EU and obtained candidate status along with Ukraine that summer.
In June of this year, the EU agreed to start accession negotiations with Moldova and Ukraine.
Loredana Godorogea, a 29-year-old IT manager, told the Associated Press that she voted to support the incumbent president and joining the EU. She believes that over the next five years, Moldova should deepen economic cooperation with the EU, with the war in Ukraine being a significant factor influencing her voting preference.