Moldova’s President Maia Sandu prepares to cast her vote, in Chisinau, Moldova, Sunday, October 20, 2024. VADIM GHIRDA / APMoldova’s pro-Brussels President Maia Sandu on Monday, October 21, said her camp “won justly in an unjust struggle” in an EU referendum and first-round presidential elections marked by claims of Russian interference. The referendum on joining the EU passed with a razor-thin majority in the key electoral test for the former Soviet republic bordering war-torn Ukraine.
Sandu said late Sunday that Moldova had witnessed “an unprecedented assault” on its democracy,” blaming “criminal groups, working together with foreign forces hostile to our national interests.” The Kremlin, in turn, called on Sandu to “prove” election interference in the country of 2.6 million people and alleged “anomalies” in Moldova’s vote count.
Sandu, 52, a former World Bank economist and Moldova’s first woman president, managed to top the first round of presidential elections held at the same time as the referendum on Sunday. But she will face a tough second round on November 3 against Alexandr Stoianoglo, a former prosecutor backed by the pro-Russian Socialists.
The European Union on Monday said voting was marred by Russia’s “unprecedented interference and intimidation.” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk hailed Moldova as a “brave nation.” “Infuriate Moscow, impress Europe, save her country once again – that’s who Maia Sandu is,” Tusk wrote on social media.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen on Monday hailed Moldova’s pro-EU vote: “In the face of Russia’s hybrid tactics, Moldova shows that it is independent, it is strong and it wants a European future,” von der Leyen wrote on X.
European Parliament president Roberta Metsola congratulated Moldova: “Well done Republic of Moldova! Thank you for your bravery,” Metsola wrote on X, adding in Romanian that Europe is Moldova and Moldova is Europe. “Our future will be written together,” she wrote.