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The elections in Moldova were not free, says the Kremlin indignantly

Voters in Moldova decided who will become the new president in Sunday’s elections. At the same time, a referendum was held in which they answered the question of whether an article defining EU accession as a strategic goal should become part of the Moldovan constitution.

By a narrow majority, Moldova voted for enshrining the country’s entry into the EU in the constitution. After 99.50 percent of the votes were counted, 50.42 percent of people expressed their “pro” vote. In addition to the referendum, people also voted in the presidential election, where after processing 99.37 percent of the votes, the current pro-European president Maia Sanduová led with more than 42 percent, ahead of the second-placed Alexander Stoianogle, who had just over 26 percent.

Photo: Terje Bendiksby, Reuters

Moldovan President Maia Sandu

“What we see is a hard-to-explain rate of increase in votes in favor of Sandu and in favor of the referendum participants who were in favor of orientation towards the EU,” said Peskov, according to the TASS agency. He pointed out that after counting 92 percent of the votes, 52 percent of people said “no” to Moldova’s EU orientation. In the morning, after counting less than 98 percent of the votes, the interim result was already 50 to 50, after which it swung to the side of those who voted “yes”. “This dynamic of change raises a lot of questions,” noted Peskov.

The second round will decide the president

Although Sanduová won the election, she did not receive the majority of votes needed to avoid a second round of voting. The pro-European politician said early Monday morning that the election and the referendum were marred by “unprecedented” outside interference and that criminal groups cooperating with “foreign forces hostile to our national interests” tried to buy several hundred thousand votes.

“We have clear evidence that the goal of these criminal groups was to buy 300,000 votes, which is a fraud of an unprecedented scale,” she said, adding that the goal of this action was to subvert democracy.

“If she claims that she did not receive votes because of certain criminal groups, she must present evidence,” said Peskov, according to the TASS agency. He also added that it would be good for Sandu to explain such a large part of the votes that do not agree with her policy. “Are they such criminal gangs? Does Nebo mean that Moldovan citizens who do not agree with it are associated with criminal groups?” asked the Kremlin spokesman.

Moldova repeatedly accuses Russia of waging a hybrid war against it, meddling in its elections and conducting large-scale disinformation campaigns in an attempt to overthrow the government and thwart the country’s path to the EU, the BBC recalled. Russia perceives the effort to integrate Moldova into the EU as a negative step and the interference of the West in its sphere of influence. But he denies his interference in the events in Moldova and blames the government for “Russophobia”.

The referendum and the presidential elections are seen as a decisive test of the mood of the Moldovan public, who must choose between leaning towards Europe or maintaining close relations with Russia.

Moldova, home to around 2.5 million inhabitants, belongs to the poorest countries in Europe. It declared its independence from the Soviet Union in August 1991, and since the beginning of its independence it has had to deal with the issue of the Russian-speaking and Moscow-supported but unrecognized Transnistrian Republic. It seceded from Moldova in the early 1990s, when the separatists there were actively supported by Russian soldiers. Russia maintains a military corps of 1,500 men in the region, which it describes as a peacekeeping mission.