It is above all the referendum organized at the same time which will therefore be scrutinized: will the voters approve the inclusion in the Constitution of the European objective, presented as the only bulwark against Moscow?
Moldova already has one foot in the EU with the official opening of accession negotiations in June and polls predict a 55% “yes” victory.
“I came to give my voice for the prosperity, peace and well-being of our country,” Olga Cernega, a 60-year-old economist, told AFP after voting in freezing temperatures in the capital Chisinau.
Others, like this sixty-year-old jurist called Ghenadie who refused to give his last name, are worried about Moldova’s “western” turn and judge that the current government “has made the situation worse”, while part of the population was impoverished by record inflation.
Why Sunday’s election in Moldova will be closely monitored by the Kremlin
“Our destiny”
Offices opened at 7:00 a.m. (04:00 GMT), loudspeakers broadcasting the national anthem. The first results must be announced one hour after closing, around 10 p.m.
The unknown lies in the participation rate which must reach at least 33%, with pro-Russian parties having called for a boycott of the referendum in the hope of invalidating the vote.
Corruption, commando training, disinformation: the police have carried out 350 searches in recent months and carried out hundreds of arrests of suspects accused of wanting to disrupt the electoral process on behalf of Moscow.
An “unprecedented” vote-buying system was revealed, involving 150,000 Moldovans paid to slip anti-Sandu and anti-EU ballots into the ballot box, or even 300,000 including their relatives, according to investigators. Or around a quarter of the expected voters in the country of 2.6 million inhabitants.
“This vote will determine our destiny for many decades,” declared Maia Sandu while voting late in the morning, inviting all citizens, including the large diaspora, to come out.
“It is the will of the Moldovan people” which must be expressed, “not that of other people, not dirty money”, insisted the candidate with a frail figure, credited with nearly 36% of the voting intentions .
The first woman to occupy, in 2020, the highest positions in this state located between NATO and the Russian sphere of influence, this 52-year-old economist with a reputation for being incorruptible has become a leading European personality.
Moldova’s European membership: Moscow spends millions of dollars to buy voters’ votes
“Band of crooks”
Facing her, no heavyweight but a string of ten candidates, most of them more or less linked to Moscow behind speeches of “neutrality”. Some speak Russian, in addition to the official language of Romanian.
Alexandr Stoianoglo, a 57-year-old former prosecutor supported by the pro-Russian socialists, is at 9%. Dismissed by his rival, he calls, looking severe in his suit, to “restore justice” in the face of a power ready, according to the opposition, to violate rights.
Saying he was in favor of “a balanced foreign policy”, resuming ties with Russia, he abstained from voting in the referendum.
Renato Usatii, former mayor of Balti, Moldova’s second city (6.4%), also has a card to play. With the Moldovan flag on his shoulders, the 45-year-old claims to be “the only candidate not to be controlled by either the East or the West.”
According to the WatchDog think tank, Russia spent around a hundred million dollars in the run-up to the vote. With, in the maneuver, the oligarch Ilan Shor, refugee in Moscow after a conviction for fraud.
“Russia is not idle, it has never invested so much money,” Romanian historian Armand Gosu, a specialist in the region, told AFP.
“While our country is at a crossroads, a gang of crooks is trying to deceive people,” warned Prime Minister Dorin Recean, calling on Moldovans to be “vigilant.”
The Kremlin “categorically” rejected accusations of interference.
