Moldova: Pro-EU President Maia Sandu on track to be re-elected

Two weeks after the “yes” victory in the EU referendum in Moldova, pro-European President Maia Sandu is on track to win Sunday in the second round of a presidential election marked by accusations of interference Russians.

After the counting of 95% of the ballots, the 52-year-old candidate collected 51.6% of the votes, against 48.3% for Alexandr Stoianoglo, a 57-year-old former prosecutor supported by the pro-Russian socialists, according to the results published by the Electoral Commission. If Alexandr Stoianoglo initially led, the trend reversed in the evening as the votes were counted.

Russian interference

Maia Sandu thanked “all those who believed in democracy”, addressing her supporters gathered in a charged atmosphere at campaign headquarters in the capital Chisinau. His rival had called a little earlier “for calm, whatever the final results”.

As in Georgia, another former Soviet republic, Russia has been accused of interference in the electoral process, allegations categorically rejected by the Kremlin. Throughout the day, the authorities reported “provocations and attempts at destabilization.”

The police said they were investigating the alleged establishment by Russia of “organized transports” to Belarus, Azerbaijan and Turkey to allow voters residing on its soil to go and vote in the Moldovan consulates or embassies of these countries. . Cyberattacks and false bomb threats also targeted overseas voting operations, according to the same source.

“Against the crooks”

The first woman to occupy the highest positions in 2020 in this former Soviet republic located between NATO and the Russian sphere of influence, Maia Sandu turned her back on Vladimir Putin after the Russian invasion of neighboring Ukraine.

She came well ahead of the first round on October 20 but her rival was able to count on the support of several small candidates to narrow the gap. The participation rate was significantly higher on Sunday than in the first round, with a record number of voters in the diaspora mainly in favor of the outgoing president.

Between the two rounds, she intensified her campaign on social networks and in the villages to try to counter the massive vote buying which, according to Chisinau, distorted the results of the October 20 referendum, which was more contested than expected (50.35% for “yes”).

After slipping her ballot into the ballot box, Maia Sandu called for mobilization “against the crooks”, placing her “confidence” in her fellow citizens “who have always moved the country forward and protected it from evil”. Opposite, Alexandr Stoianoglo, with a smooth speech where Russian words are often mixed with the official Romanian language, denied “having links with the Kremlin” and any involvement “in electoral fraud”.

“At a high price”

This poor country, under European perfusion, is extremely polarized, between on one side a diaspora and a capital mainly in favor of integration into the EU, and on the other the rural areas and two regions, the separatist province of Transdniestria and autonomous Gagauzia, turned towards Russia.

The vote is being closely followed from Brussels to Washington, where there are concerns about Russian attempts to disrupt the electoral process. Moldova is “paying a high price” for its decision to cut ties with Moscow, underlines a WatchDog expert.

“The pressure is unprecedented and the money spent to carry out these colossal destabilizing activities,” he said, referring to a total investment of more than a hundred million dollars. With one objective: to bring the country back “into Russia’s orbit”.

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