Women cast their vote in Chisinau, Moldova, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, during a presidential election and a referendum on whether to enshrine in the Constitution the country’s path to European Union membership. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
As delivered by Chargé d’Affaires Katherine Brucker
to the Permanent Council, Vienna
November 7, 2024
The United States congratulates President Maia Sandu on her historic reelection, the first Moldovan president to win a mandate for a second term by popular vote. We commend the people of Moldova for exercising their right to vote in the November 3rd run-off election to choose a President who reflects the will of the people, despite Kremlin-backed efforts to undermine the election. The people of Moldova persevered and voted in favor of President Sandu’s vision for a secure, prosperous, and democratic Moldova only two weeks after they passed a constitutional referendum in support of membership in the European Union.
The people of Moldova achieved this outcome – as ODIHR put it – “under extremely challenging circumstances.” The Kremlin’s destructive agenda failed. Putin’s proxies resorted to vote-buying to bribe impoverished voters and sway their votes, in an attempt to undermine the country’s European ambitions. The scale of the Kremlin-backed vote-buying operation in Moldova was unprecedented. Moldovan authorities reported that $39 million was funneled into Moldova in September and October alone, via Russian bank Promsvyazbank, which is under U.S. sanctions. Russia’s interference campaign also relied on anti-EU disinformation, amplified by social networks. Nonetheless, the Kremlin’s attempts to subvert Moldova’s electoral process failed.
We applaud the professionalism of Moldova’s law enforcement institutions, which uncovered cash piles, phone numbers, and names underpinning a network aimed at corrupting the electoral process. We encourage Moldova to continue to thoroughly investigate this electoral interference.
We share the views of the International Election Observation Mission that Moldova conducted the run-off election efficiently and professionally, and that voters made a clear choice between genuine political alternatives. We encourage Moldova to work closely with ODIHR to follow up on election-related recommendations.
The Moldovan people have made their voice heard: Moldova’s future is aligned with Europe and democracies everywhere.
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