{"id":410710,"date":"2025-09-09T15:04:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T15:04:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/410710\/"},"modified":"2025-09-09T15:04:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T15:04:15","slug":"moldovas-president-accuses-russia-of-conducting-hybrid-war-ahead-of-key-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/410710\/","title":{"rendered":"Moldova’s president accuses Russia of conducting ‘hybrid war’ ahead of key elections"},"content":{"rendered":"

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) \u2014 Moldovan President Maia Sandu warned Tuesday that her country\u2019s democracy faces a \u201crace against time\u201d from what she said was attempts by Russia to influence<\/a> parliamentary elections this month. <\/p>\n

In a speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Sandu said the Sep. 28 vote to choose a new 101-seat legislature would be the \u201cmost consequential\u201d election in the European Union-candidate country\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

Sandu reiterated long-held allegations that Moscow is conducting a sprawling \u201c hybrid war<\/a> \u201d against Moldova \u2014 through disinformation, vote-buying, illicit party funding, and myriad other tactics \u2014 to try to undermine the upcoming vote and derail Moldova\u2019s path toward EU membership. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Kremlin\u2019s goal is clear: to capture Moldova through the ballot box, to use us against Ukraine, and to turn us into a launchpad for hybrid attacks on the European Union,\u201d Sandu said. \u201cIf our democracy<\/a> cannot be protected, then no democracy in Europe is safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sandu said the election outcome will determine whether Moldova becomes a stable democracy or whether alleged Russian destabilization pulls Moldova away from Europe. \u201cToday we face an unlimited hybrid war on a scale unseen before the full invasion of Ukraine,\u201d she added. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"From<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Moldova's<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Moscow had repeatedly denied meddling in Moldova.<\/p>\n

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola told Sandu before her speech that \u201cwe are all deeply impressed by your determination, courage, and steadfast commitment to Moldova\u2019s people,\u201d and that the chamber stands united in support of Moldova\u2019s democratic path toward EU membership.<\/p>\n

The EU Parliament will debate later on Tuesday a resolution on strengthening Moldova\u2019s resilience against Russian \u201chybrid threats and malign interference.\u201d It is expected to vote on it on Wednesday. <\/p>\n

Sandu\u2019s remarks on Tuesday come weeks after the leaders of France, Germany, and Poland traveled to Moldova<\/a> in a show of support to mark the country\u2019s 34 years of independence from the Soviet Union.<\/p>\n

Moldova\u2019s upcoming parliamentary election will be pivotal to the country\u2019s geopolitical course: whether it can stay convincingly on its EU path or be dragged back into Russia\u2019s orbit. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a race against time, to anchor our democracy inside the (European) Union, where it will be protected from the greatest threat we face: Russia,\u201d Sandu said. <\/p>\n

The pro-European Party of Action and Solidarity, or PAS, which Sandu founded in 2016, won a clear majority in the 2021 parliamentary election<\/a> but risks losing its majority in the Sep. 28 vote, with no clear pro-European alternatives on the ballot.<\/p>\n

In the aftermath of Russia\u2019s full invasion of neighboring Ukraine in 2022, Moldova applied for EU membership and was granted candidate status that year. Brussels agreed to open accession negotiations<\/a> last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrecisely because we have advanced greatly on this path, Russia has unleashed its full arsenal of hybrid attacks against us,\u201d Sandu said. \u201cThe battlefield is our elections.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year, Moldovans voted narrowly in favor of securing the country\u2019s EU path, the same day a presidential election was held, which secured Sandu a second term. But those two votes were also overshadowed by widespread claims of Russian interference<\/a>, which Moscow denied.<\/p>\n

Siegfried Muresan, Chair of the European Parliament\u2019s delegation to Moldova, said in a statement that \u201cMoldova is a priority for EU security, not just EU enlargement\u201d and that \u201ca stronger Moldova means a weaker Russia at our borders.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is why, in this week\u2019s plenary, we will vote on a resolution reaffirming strong support for Moldova\u2019s EU path,\u201d he said. \u201cWe will also call on the Council to start negotiations on the first cluster of Moldova\u2019s accession process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sandu\u2019s warnings came a day after Romania\u2019s anti-organized crime agency, DIICOT, arrested a 47-year-old former senior official in Moldova\u2019s Intelligence and Security Services on alleged treason charges. The case was part of a broader spy network<\/a> being built in Europe by Belarus<\/a>, according to Czech counterintelligence.<\/p>\n

Romanian prosecutors allege the Moldovan suspect disclosed state secrets to Belarusian intelligence officers that could \u201cendanger national security,\u201d DIICOT stated. <\/p>\n

Belarus is led by authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko<\/a>, who is a close ally<\/a> of Russian President Vladimir Putin<\/a>. Lukashenko let Russia use Belarusian territory as a staging ground for Moscow\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine<\/a>, and later allowed the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear missiles.<\/p>\n

\u201cRussia is using Belarus to attack Europe, and wants to do the same with Moldova,\u201d Muresan added. \u201cBelarus has been a satellite for Russia\u2019s war against Ukraine and EU democracies since day one.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/p>\n

Stephen McGrath reported from Leamington Spa, U.K; Karel Janicek contributed from Prague, . <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) \u2014 Moldovan President Maia Sandu warned Tuesday that her country\u2019s democracy faces a \u201crace against…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":410711,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7655],"tags":[110744,31,33,299,1699,20730,4179,51099,2845,13491,285,31621,332,7659,84490,333,263],"class_list":{"0":"post-410710","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-russia","8":"tag-alexander-lukashenko","9":"tag-democracy","10":"tag-elections","11":"tag-europe","12":"tag-european-union","13":"tag-european-parliament","14":"tag-general-news","15":"tag-maia-sandu","16":"tag-misinformation","17":"tag-moldova","18":"tag-politics","19":"tag-roberta-metsola","20":"tag-russia","21":"tag-russia-government","22":"tag-siegfried-muresan","23":"tag-vladimir-putin","24":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115174956674849851","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=410710"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410710\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/410711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=410710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=410710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=410710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}