Moldova
president condemns ‘assault’ on democracy by ‘foreign forces’ as EU vote hangs
in balance
Pro-western
leader Maia Sandu spoke as pivotal referendum on EU membership remained too
close to call
Pjotr Sauer
Mon 21 Oct
2024 00.20 BST
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/oct/21/moldova-election-maia-sandu
Moldova’s
pro-western president, Maia Sandu, blamed an “unprecedented assault on our
country’s freedom and democracy” by “foreign forces” on Sunday night, as a
pivotal referendum on EU membership remained too close to call with most votes
counted.
Moldovans
went to the polls earlier in the day to cast their vote in a presidential
election and an EU referendum that marked a key moment in the tug-of-war
between Russia and the west over the future of the small, landlocked south-east
European country with a population of about 2.5 million people.
At 3am GMT
on Monday, with 97.66% of the vote counted, 50% of Moldovans voted “yes”,
according to results given on Moldova’s electoral commission website. But the
results could yet change as votes are still being counted among the large
Moldovan diaspora, which is favourable to joining the EU.
The separate
presidential election results showed that incumbent president Sandu topped the
first round of the vote with about 38%, but she will now face her closest
competitor, Alexandr Stoianoglo, a former prosecutor backed by the pro-Russian
Socialists, in the second round.
The double
vote in one of Europe’s poorest countries was seen as a crucial test of Sandu’s
pro-European agenda, as she had urged Moldovans to vote “yes” in the referendum
to affirm EU accession as an “irreversible” constitutional goal.
The narrow
results will disappoint Sandu’s supporters and her allies in Brussels.
Pre-election surveys indicated that Sandu held a comfortable lead over her main
rival, Stoianoglo, and other candidates, while polls suggested that about 60%
of voters supported the pro-EU path in the run-up to the referendum.
Sandu, a
52-year-old former World Bank adviser, was first elected president in November
2020, riding a wave of popularity as an anti-corruption reformer with a
pro-European agenda.
Since the
breakup of the Soviet Union, Moldova has gravitated between pro-western and
pro-Russian courses, but under Sandu it had accelerated its push to escape
Moscow’s orbit, especially as Russia launched its war in neighbouring Ukraine.
The two
ballots were held amid claims by Moldovan authorities that Moscow and its
proxies had orchestrated an intense “hybrid war” campaign to destabilise the
country and derail its EU path.
“Moldova has
faced an unprecedented assault on our country’s freedom and democracy, both
today and in recent months,” Sandu told supporters in the capital, Chișinău, on
Sunday as votes were being counted, adding that “criminal groups” had tried to
“undermine a democratic process”.
“We are
waiting for the final results, and we will respond with firm decisions,” she
added.
The
allegations against Moscow included funding pro-Kremlin opposition groups,
spreading disinformation, meddling in local elections and backing a major
vote-buying scheme.
In
particular, officials accused the fugitive pro-Russian businessman Ilan Shor, a
vocal opponent of EU membership, of running a destabilising campaign from
Moscow.
Earlier this
month, the national police chief, Viorel Cernăuțanu, accused Shor and Moscow of
establishing a complex “mafia-style” voter-buying scheme and bribing 130,000
Moldovans – almost 10% of normal voter turnout – to vote against the referendum
and in favour of Russia-friendly candidates in what he called an
“unprecedented, direct attack”.
On Thursday,
law enforcement agencies said they had also uncovered a programme in which
hundreds of people were taken to Russia to undergo training to stage riots and
civil unrest.
In total,
Moldovan officials claimed Russia had spent about $100m this year on Moldova’s
electoral processes.
Moldova
applied to join the EU after Russia’s full-scale invasion of neighbouring
Ukraine, which was harshly condemned by Sandu and many in the country as tens
of thousands of Ukranian refugees fled to Chișinău.
Moldova
officially began EU accession negotiations in June, though scepticism remains
high about the country’s ability to implement the necessary democratic and
judicial reforms in the near future.
Observers
believe Sandu could now be facing a tricky second-round runoff against a united
pro-Moscow opposition front led by Stoianoglo.
Stoianoglo,
a former prosecutor general who was dismissed by Sandu, urged people to boycott
the referendum or vote “no”, describing it as a “cynical” move to boost Sandu’s
popularity.
In an
earlier interview with the Guardian, Stoianoglo denied that he was working on
behalf of Russia. But he declined to criticise the Kremlin for its invasion of
Ukraine and called for improved relations with Moscow.
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