Moldova’s ruling pro-EU party wins election marred by claims of Russian meddling

By Catherine Nicholls, Kosta Gak, Christian Edwards, Helen Regan, CNN

(CNN) — Moldova’s ruling pro-Western party has won a decisive victory and a fresh majority in parliament after a crucial election fraught with allegations of Russian interference.

Before the vote, President Maia Sandu warned that Russia had spent “hundreds of millions of euros” in a bid to sway the result, seen as crucial for the former Soviet state’s future path to the European Union.

But after all votes were counted on Monday, Sandu’s Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) secured more than 50% of the vote, far ahead of the pro-Russian opposition Patriotic Bloc with under 25%.

Igor Dodan, head of the Patriotic Bloc and Sandu’s predecessor as president, called for protests on Monday outside the parliament in the capital Chisinau. Before the vote, Moldovan authorities warned of the risk of disruption and street violence once polls closed.

Casting her vote Sunday, Sandu said there was “a lot at stake” for Moldova, and that she hoped the country “will have the chance to continue to strengthen its democracy, to protect its space, and to continue its EU integration path.”

Sandu is targeting EU membership for Moldova within the next five years and warned of dangerous consequences if Russian influence prevailed in the country, which borders Ukraine.

Sandu, a Harvard-educated former World Bank official, won the presidential election by a landslide in 2020 and her party swept to power the next year, pledging to clean up corruption and improve governance. Its progress, however, was hampered by the security and economic crises which spilled over from Ukraine after Russia’s all-out invasion in 2022.

Although Sandu won widespread praise for helping Moldova secure EU candidate status in 2022, some voters were frustrated with the pace of reform and spiraling gas prices, after Russia cut off supplies and Moldova sought new procurement deals with Romania.

But Sunday’s election means both Sandu and her party have twice won elections by commanding margins, despite widespread claims of Russian meddling.

“Moldova has demonstrated that Russia can be defeated against all odds and even in a hugely asymmetric fight,” Oana Popescu-Zamfir, director of the GlobalFocus Center think-tank, told CNN.

She said Moldova had repeatedly shown “an incredible level of commitment to a pro-democratic, pro-European future,” and that the EU now “needs to show it is as serious about enlargement as the candidates are.”

Many Moldovans expressed hope after the results of the election became clear. “We hope there will be change because everyone wants things to be good in Moldova, for us to have jobs, good salaries, so that people don’t have to leave the country,” 43-year-old Chisinau resident Mariana Ojog told Reuters.

Another resident of the Moldovan capital, 73-year-old Emilia Lupascu, said she voted for PAS “because I want Moldova to move towards Europe, for people to live well.”

Accusations of Russian interference

Ahead of the election, Sandu accused Russia of attempting to sway the vote to install a government more pliant to Moscow through a vast disinformation campaign.

Moldova, which won independence as the Soviet Union crumbled, was subject to a “tsunami” of Russian cash, cryptocurrency and disinformation, in a campaign that aimed to bolster pro-Russian opposition, Nicu Popescu, Moldova’s former foreign minister, told CNN last week.

Moscow has denied any interference.

The results of the election show that “Russia has not achieved its objectives,” Sandu said in a news conference Monday.

“It has spent a lot of money in these elections, but the results show that they failed, and it failed because of the… joint efforts of the state institutions, of the media, of the press, of the civil society,” she said, adding that “we managed to resist this huge interference by Russia, and I’m actually very proud of the Moldovans.”

On Sunday, Moldovan National Security Adviser Stanislav Secrieru said a string of incidents on election day included cyberattacks targeting electoral systems and government websites, false bomb threats against polling stations abroad and illegal transportation of voters to polling stations.

Moldova’s foreign ministry said polling stations in Belgium, Italy, Romania, Spain and the United States were targeted by bomb threats “as part of the Russian Federation’s assault on the electoral process in the Republic of Moldova.”

Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean said cyberattacks were launched on infrastructure related to the electoral process, including the Central Election Commission’s website and “several polling stations outside the country.”

“All attacks were detected and neutralized in real time, without affecting the electoral process,” he said in a post on social media.

Moldova’s sizeable diaspora was crucial in securing Sandu’s reelection in 2024, but analysts said Russia campaigned to demotivate those more liberal voters this time.

European leaders celebrated PAS’ victory on Monday, including Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, who congratulated Moldovan voters.

“Moldova, you’ve done it again. No attempt to sow fear or division could break your resolve. You made your choice clear: Europe. Democracy. Freedom,” she said in a post on X. “Our door is open. And we will stand with you every step of the way. The future is yours.”

In a joint statement, the leaders of France, Poland and Germany said they “commend the Moldovan society and authorities for the peaceful conduct of the election, despite unprecedented interference by Russia, including with vote-buying schemes and disinformation.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was “delighted” to congratulate Sandu on the “very important victory.”

“Russia’s subversive activities and constant disinformation have not worked. It is important that Moldova has been effective in defending itself against threats, together with all those who have helped,” Zelensky said.

Leaders of other countries including the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Georgia, Latvia, Norway, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Croatia, Estonia, Spain, Austria and Albania also heralded the election result.

Despite jubilation in much of Europe, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was less triumphant.

“As far as we know, some political forces are declaring their disagreement and talking about possible election violations – that’s what we’re hearing,” Peskov told journalists on Monday.

“From what we see and know, we can state that hundreds of thousands of Moldovans were deprived of the opportunity to vote in Russia because only two polling stations were open to them, which was insufficient and couldn’t allow everyone to vote. That’s all we can say,” he added.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said later Monday that Moldovan authorities had “cynically accused Russia, not the EU, of interfering in Moldova’s political processes.”

Zakharova said any moves by the government to turn Moldova into an “anti-Russian NATO appendage,” including support for Ukraine, would be a “path to nowhere.”

Correction: This story has been updated to correct that Moldova was granted EU candidate status in 2022.

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CNN’s Anna Chernova, Stephanie Halasz and Nina Subkhanberdina contributed to this report.