Moldova is a country divided in two. The country’s president, the pro-Western Maia Sandu, emerged on Sunday night as the almost certain winner of the second round of a very close election. With 94% of the vote counted, Sandu won 51.3% of the votes, compared to 48.7% for his rival, the candidate supported by pro-Russian formations, Alenxadr Stoianoglo. If this result is confirmed, the president would have achieved her goal of a new four-year term at the head of this Eastern European country.
The Moldovans had a key day before them this Sunday to define their future. The elections were to determine whether this former Soviet republic, of 2.7 million inhabitants, would continue its course towards Europe – it was granted the status of a candidate country for the European Union in June 2022 – or fall back into the Kremlin’s orbit. . Finally, and by a very narrow margin, the Moldovans have chosen the European route, according to preliminary results. The foreign vote has been key, since inside the country Stoianoglo had obtained more votes than its rival (51.2% compared to 48.8%). But the diaspora would have given victory to Sandu. With 47% counted, he had more than 80% support.
These elections have been marked by the high mobilization of Moldovans living outside the country, which has boosted participation in an unprecedented way. The other key to election day were the false bomb alerts in several polling stations outside the country.
The head of state, who in the first round held on October 20 had obtained 42.45% of the votes compared to 25.98% for her rival, started as a favorite. But victory seemed increasingly difficult in recent days, as most of the eliminated candidates had urged their supporters to vote for Stoianoglo. This would have obtained, according to the Presidency, the support of the oligarch Ilan Shor, who escaped in Russia after being sentenced to 15 years in prison for the theft of 1,000 million dollars (about 900 million euros), which is equivalent to 8% of the GDP of Moldova.
Stoianoglo spoke after the closing of the schools, at a time when he was leading the count, but the dynamics of the count suggested that Sandu would take the initiative. “I sincerely hope that from now on we put an end to the hatred and division that has been imposed on us. I call on all citizens to look beyond narrow interests and to the media and NGOs affiliated with power to find their vocation to objectively inform society, renouncing manipulation, hysteria and artificial division of society. society,” declared Stoianolgo.
A bomb threat forced the closure of a polling station in the British city of Liverpool as the safety of voters could not be guaranteed. There were also explosive alerts in Frankfurt, Karlsruhe, Bucharest and Brasov. The wave of calls for alleged bombs pushed the head of state to ask the diaspora not to be afraid to exercise their right to vote: “You are an extraordinary force! The thieves are afraid of you, that is why they have activated false bomb alerts in several polling stations.”
The Prime Minister, Dorin Recean, also appealed to citizens abroad to vote: “The Government is prepared for attempts at destabilization and works closely with the authorities of each country where there are electoral colleges for the security of the vote and of the voters; “Every vote counts.”
Allegations of Russian interference
Previously, the Moldovan authorities had already denounced interference by Russia on Sunday. “We are seeing massive Russian interference in our electoral process as Moldovans vote in the second round of the presidential election, an effort with a high potential to distort the result. The authorities are on high alert,” said Stanislav Secrieru, secretary of the Supreme Security Council and advisor to the president on defense matters, in a message on the X social network.
Chisinau had already put the Western countries in which it has opened polling stations – Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Canada, Romania, the United States and the United Kingdom – on alert due to fear that Russia would try to disrupt participation. In the referendum on the country’s integration into the European Union, which took place simultaneously with the first round of the presidential elections on October 20 and which passed by a narrow margin of votes, the diaspora played a decisive role, changing the voting results.
The increase in the level of participation, up to 54.22%, would have been driven by massive transfers of voters sponsored from Russia. Various media have reported that hundreds of Moldovan citizens residing in Russia have been transported on buses and charter flights to Türkiye, Azerbaijan and Belarus. The objective is for Moldovan citizens to vote in those countries, since the electoral colleges in Russia are collapsed.
One media outlet even published on its social networks a video of a plane full of citizens showing their Moldovan passports. “The plane appears capable of transporting between 260 and 400 voters, clear evidence of organized, large-scale transportation of voters,” Secrieru said. The secretary of the Supreme Security Council also reported that the Moldovan cybersecurity agency suffered attacks on its website on Sunday. “Quick action restored access; data integrity is intact; Additional measures have been taken to guarantee the smooth development of the electoral process,” the entity has notified.
For its part, the Belarusian news agency Belta published that hundreds of Moldovans have traveled from Kaliningrad and Moscow to Minsk, Baku and Chisinau to vote in the elections, since the electoral points in Russia – two in the capital – cannot cope. to the number of Moldovans who wanted to exercise their right to vote.
Election observers from Promo-LEX, an NGO that defends human rights, have stated: “Organized transportation of voters, illegal according to our electoral code, has been taking place in the region of Transnistria. [enclave exsoviético que persiste gracias a la ayuda del Kremlin para mantener la influencia rusa sobre el país de la Europa del Este]”.
Nerves were on edge in this republic that gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. During the day of reflection, hundreds of thousands of Moldovans received death threats in recent days by email. “We know your address, your personal information, your bank cards” or “We will chase you until you commit suicide” are some of the messages issued by people posing as members of Sandu’s team. Even journalists were the object of these attacks that seek to tarnish the image of the current head of state: “We know where you live, we know which newsroom you work for, we can kill you. Choose in favor of Maia Sandu and save your life.”
In Romania there was considerable mobilization. Moldovan citizens went out of their way to cast their vote at the 16 polling stations, especially in Bucharest, where long lines of citizens were seen. Among them, the Moldovan soccer player Igor Armas: “It will be a record in these elections,” he said. A few meters away, Olga, a nurse who has worked in the Romanian capital for 10 years, stated: “We cannot let the Russians occupy us again; “We want to get rid of their influence, which only brings poverty and hatred.”
