Moldova’s pro-western President Maia Sandu is currently leading in the presidential election, with preliminary results signaling a setback for Russian influence in the region. On Sunday, Moldovans voted in a runoff election viewed as a crucial test of the country’s future geopolitical alignment—either with Russia or with Europe.
In recent years, Sandu has ramped up efforts to distance Moldova from Moscow’s influence. Her opponent in the polls was Alexandr Stoianoglo, a political newcomer aligned with the Kremlin and representing the Socialist Party. With nearly 86 percent of the votes counted, Sandu holds a slim lead of 1 percent. Although votes from about half of the diaspora—a significant 20 percent of the electorate—are yet to be counted, analysts suggest that Sandu is almost certain to secure re-election.
Early results show that Moldova’s large diaspora is strongly backing Sandu, according to The Guardian. This outcome is expected to provide substantial momentum for Sandu and her long-term EU-oriented agenda.
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Moldova leans towards the EU
It is worth noting that Sandu’s pro-EU stance faced a challenge following a referendum she initiated to gauge support for Moldova’s integration with the European Union. The motion passed on October 20, but by the narrowest of margins. The referendum was held alongside the first round of the presidential election, in which Sandu garnered 42 percent of the vote but fell short of an outright majority.
Sunday’s election results may bring encouragement to Western allies, especially as they follow Georgia’s recent re-election of a party widely seen as leaning towards Moscow and adopting increasingly authoritarian policies, despite Georgia’s EU aspirations.
The European Union has committed to a €1.8 billion multi-year support package for Moldova to aid in its EU accession journey, which officially began in June. Since then, Sandu has vowed to work “day and night” to achieve full EU membership for Moldova by 2030.
Russian interference?
Both rounds of the presidential election and the EU referendum vote have faced allegations of Russian interference. For months, Sandu and her allies have claimed that Moscow and its affiliates were leading an extensive campaign that reportedly included vote-buying and the dissemination of misinformation aimed at influencing the election outcome.
Officials in Chișinău suspect that Moscow funneled close to $100 million into the first round of voting, with reports indicating that some of these funds were smuggled in by “money mules” caught by police at the main airport, each carrying stacks of €10,000 in cash. “Moldova has had a monumental task before it: just two weeks to stop a sprawling Kremlin-backed vote-buying scheme that proved effective in the twin vote on 20 October,” said Olga Rosca, Sandu’s foreign policy adviser.
The Kremlin, however, has denied all allegations of meddling in the election. “We resolutely reject any accusations that we are somehow interfering in this. We are not doing this,” stated Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.
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