{"id":460330,"date":"2025-09-29T11:52:20","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T11:52:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/460330\/"},"modified":"2025-09-29T11:52:20","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T11:52:20","slug":"pro-eu-party-narrowly-wins-moldovan-election-marred-by-claims-of-russian-meddling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/460330\/","title":{"rendered":"Pro-EU party narrowly wins Moldovan election marred by claims of Russian meddling"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHISINAU, Moldova \u2014 Moldova\u2019s ruling pro-EU party hailed victory in polls on Monday, overshadowed by accusations of Russian interference, evoking an \u201cextraordinarily difficult struggle\u201d to gain a slim parliamentary majority.<\/p>\n

The small European Union candidate nation, which borders Ukraine and has a pro-Russia breakaway region, has long been divided over whether to move closer to Brussels or maintain Soviet-era relations with Moscow.<\/p>\n

Sunday\u2019s elections were seen as crucial for the ex-Soviet republic to maintain its push toward EU integration, launched after Moscow\u2019s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n

\u201cRussia threw everything dirty it had into the fight\u2026 It\u2019s not only PAS that won the elections, the people won,\u201d\u00a0Igor Grosu, leader of the Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS), told a press conference.<\/p>\n

But analysts warned that the ruling party\u2019s victory was \u201cfragile\u201d and that Russia could yet stir trouble.<\/p>\n

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With over 99.91 percent of ballots counted, the party of President Maia Sandu had garnered 50.16 percent of the vote to elect members of the 101-seat parliament.<\/p>\n

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Moldova\u2019s prime minister, Dorin Recean, attends a rally of Action and Solidarity Party PAS in Chisinau on September 26, 2025 ahead of parliamentary elections.(Daniel MIHAILESCU \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

That compared to 24.19 percent for the pro-Russian Patriotic Bloc, according to results published on the election commission\u2019s website.<\/p>\n

The support for PAS was slightly lower than the 52.8 percent that it won in 2021.<\/p>\n

\u2018Right path\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very nice to wake up in a Moldova which chose the right path: peace, development and stability,\u201d Nadir Grinco, 25, who works in organizational communication, told AFP in Chisinau.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m feeling more confident\u2026 I won\u2019t have to move abroad like I planned in case of less satisfying results,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

European leaders, including neighboring Ukraine\u2019s President Volodymyr Zelensky, hailed the result as a victory for the continent.<\/p>\n

\u201cRussia failed to destabilize Moldova even after spending huge, huge resources to undermine it and to corrupt whoever they could,\u201d the wartime leader said.<\/p>\n

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky talks during his press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, September 27, 2025. (AP Photo\/Efrem Lukatsky)<\/p>\n

European Council head Antonio Costa said Moldova had chosen a \u201cEuropean future,\u201d Poland\u2019s prime minister hailed Moldova for foiling Russian ambitions, and France congratulated Moldovans on their \u201csovereign\u201d choice.<\/p>\n

\u201cStatistically speaking, PAS has guaranteed a fragile majority,\u201d analyst Andrei Curararu of the Chisinau-based think tank WatchDog.md told AFP on Sunday night.<\/p>\n

But he warned that \u201cdanger\u201d had not passed, \u201cas a functional government is difficult to form.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is likely that President Maia Sandu, who founded PAS in 2016, will opt for some continuity by nominating pro-Western Prime Minister Dorin Recean, an economist who has steered Moldova\u2019s government through multiple crises\u00a0since 2023. Recean has also previously served as Sandu\u2019s defense and security adviser.<\/p>\n

After a legislative election, Moldova\u2019s president nominates a prime minister, generally from the leading party or bloc, which can then try to form a new government. A proposed government then needs parliamentary approval.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Kremlin has bankrolled too big of an operation to stand down and could resort to protests, bribing PAS MPs and other tactics to disrupt forming a stable pro-European government,\u201d Curararu added.<\/p>\n

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Moldovan President Maia Sandu casts her ballot in the parliamentary election in Chisinau on September 28, 2025. (Daniel MIHAILESCU \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

The ballot was overshadowed by fears of vote buying and unrest, as well as \u201can unprecedented campaign of disinformation\u201d from Russia, according to the EU.<\/p>\n

Moscow has denied the allegations.<\/p>\n

Protest call<\/p>\n

Igor Dodon, a former president and one of the leaders of the Patriotic Bloc, has called on people to \u201cpeacefully protest\u201d on Monday, accusing PAS of stealing the vote.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf during the night there are falsifications \u2026 we will ask for elections to be repeated,\u201d he said late Sunday.<\/p>\n

Voters in the country of 2.4 million \u2014 one of Europe\u2019s poorest \u2014 have expressed frustration over economic hardship, as well as skepticism over the drive to join the EU.<\/p>\n

Liuba Peribicovski, a 75-year-old pensioner, said the result was \u201cnegative\u201d for her, expressing disappointment with the EU.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

People attend a protest of the Russia-friendly Patriotic Electoral Bloc in Chisinau, Moldova, September 29, 2025, after the parliamentary election. (AP Photo\/Vadim Ghirda)<\/p>\n

\u201cProve this meddling!\u201d she challenged.<\/p>\n

The government has accused the Kremlin of spending hundreds of millions in \u201cdirty money\u201d to interfere in the campaign.<\/p>\n

In the lead-up to the vote, prosecutors carried out hundreds of searches related to what the government said was \u201celectoral corruption\u201d and \u201cdestabilization attempts,\u201d with dozens arrested.<\/p>\n

Turnout stood at around 52 percent, similar to that of the last parliamentary elections in 2021.<\/p>\n


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