Moldova’s pro-Western president wins an election marred by allegations of Russian meddling

CHISINAU, Moldova — Moldova’s pro-Western President Maia Sandu won a second term in a key presidential runoff against a Russia-friendly rival in a race that was overshadowed by claims of Russian interferencevoter fraud and intimidation in a candidate country for joining the European Union.

With almost 99% of the vote counted in the second round of Sunday’s presidential election, Sandu won 55% of the vote, according to data from the Central Election Commission (CEC), compared to 45% for Oleksandr Stoyanoglo, a former prosecutor general who, with the support of the pro-Russian Socialist parties.

The result will be a big relief for the pro-Western government, which strongly supported Sandu’s candidacy, and its push for closer ties with the West on Moldova’s path to the EU.

“Moldova, you won! Today, dear Moldovans, you taught a lesson in democracy worthy of being written down in the history books. Today you saved Moldova!” Sandu said after declaring victory after midnight.

She went on to say that voting in her country was under “unprecedented attack” due to alleged schemes including dirty money, vote-buying and election interference by “hostile forces from outside the country” and criminal groups.

“You have shown that nothing can stand in the way of the power of the people when they decide to speak through their voice,” she added.

Speaking ahead of the final vote count, Stoyanoglo told media that “everyone’s voice deserves respect” and that he hoped “from now on we will end the hatred and division imposed on us.” It is not known whether he publicly commented on his election defeat.

When local polling stations closed at 9 p.m. (7 p.m. GMT), the turnout was more than 1.68 million people — about 54 percent of eligible voters, according to CEC data. The large Moldovan diaspora, which voted in a record number of more than 325,000 people, voted for Sanda in the second round.

In the first round held on October 20, Sandu won 42% of the vote, but was unable to defeat Stojanoglo, who came in second place, and was unable to obtain an absolute majority. The office of president carries significant powers in areas such as foreign policy and national security, and has a four-year term.

European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen congratulated Sanda on her victory, writing on X: “It takes rare strength to overcome the challenges you have faced in this election.”

Accusations of vote-buying and Russian interference. The Moldovan diaspora played a key role in the presidential election and national referendum held on October 20, when a slim majority of 50.35% voted to secure Moldova’s path to EU membership. But the results of the vote, including Sunday’s vote, were marred by allegations of a large vote-buying scheme and voter intimidation.

Instead of receiving the overwhelming support Sandu had hoped for, the results in both races showed that Moldova’s judicial system is unable to adequately protect the democratic process.

On Sunday, Moldovan police said they had “sufficient evidence” of the organized transport of voters — illegal under the country’s electoral code — to polling stations from within the country and from abroad, and were “investigating and registering evidence in connection with air transport activities from Russia to Belarus, Azerbaijan and Turkey”.

“Such measures are taken to protect the integrity of the election process and ensure that every citizen can vote freely without undue pressure or influence,” the police said.

Moldova’s foreign ministry said on Sunday afternoon that polling stations in Frankfurt, Germany, Liverpool and Northampton in the UK were targeted by fake bomb threats that “were only meant to stop the voting process”.

Stanislav Sekrieu, the president’s national security adviser, wrote on X: “We are seeing massive Russian interference in our election process,” which he warned has “great potential to distort the results” of the vote.

Secrieru later added that national voter registration systems have been the target of “constant coordinated cyber attacks” to disrupt communications between local polling stations and overseas polling stations, and that cyber security teams are “working to counter these threats and ensure system continuity.”

Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recan said people across the country had received “anonymous death threats via phone calls” in what he called an “extraordinary attack” to scare voters in the former Soviet republic, which has a population of about 2.5 million people

After voting in Chisinau, Sandu told reporters: “Thieves want to buy our votes, thieves want to buy our country, but the power of the people is incomparably greater.”

Outside a polling station in Romania’s capital, Bucharest, 20-year-old medical student Silviana Zestrea said the second round would be a “decisive step” for Moldova’s future.

“People have to understand that we have to choose a real candidate who lives up to our expectations,” she said. “Because I think even though we’re a diaspora now, none of us really wanted to leave.”

Moldovan police exposed a scheme allegedly planned by a convicted oligarch. After two votes in October, Moldovan law enforcement said the vote-buying scheme was orchestrated by Ilan Shor, an exiled oligarch living in Russia who was convicted in absentia last year of fraud and money laundering. Shore has pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors say $39 million was paid to more than 130,000 voters through an internationally sanctioned Russian bank between September and October. Anti-corruption authorities have carried out hundreds of raids and seized more than $2.7 million (€2.5 million) in cash in an attempt to crack down on the crime.

In one case in Gagauzia, an autonomous part of Moldova where only 5% voted for the EU, a doctor was detained after allegedly forcing 25 residents of a nursing home to vote for a candidate they did not choose. Police said they had received “compelling evidence”, including financial transfers from the same Russian bank.

On Saturday at a church in Komrat, the capital of Gagauzia, Father Vasiliy told The Associated Press that he urged people to go and vote because it was a “civic duty” and that they were not naming any candidates.

“We use the benefits that the country offers us – light, gas,” he said. “Whether we like what the government is doing or not, we have to go and vote. … The Church always prays for peace.”

On Thursday, prosecutors raided the headquarters of a political party and said 12 people were suspected of paying voters to choose a candidate in the presidential race. Criminal proceedings have also been opened against 40 employees of state bodies on suspicion of receiving election bribes.

The future of Moldova in the EU is at stake. Cristian Kantir, a Moldovan associate professor in the Department of International Affairs at Oakland University, told the AP that whatever the outcome of the second round, it “will not reduce” geopolitical tensions. “On the contrary, I expect geopolitical polarization to be exacerbated by the campaign for the 2025 legislative elections.”

Moldova’s law enforcement agencies need more resources and better trained staff who work faster to fight voter fraud, he added, to “create an environment where anyone who wants to buy or sell votes knows that they will have clear and fast consequences”.

Savlina Adasan, a 21-year-old economics student in Bucharest, said she voted for Sanda, citing concerns about corruption and voters’ lack of information about the two candidates.

“We want a European future for our country,” she said, adding that it offers “a lot of opportunities, development for our country … and I feel that if another candidate wins, it means that we take 10 steps back as a country . .”

A pro-Western government has been in power in Moldova since 2021, and parliamentary elections will be held in 2025. Moldovan observers warn that next year’s vote could become Moscow’s main target.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Moldova applied to join the EU. In June of the same year, it received candidate status, and in the summer of 2024, Brussels agreed start membership negotiations. The sharp shift to the west irritated Moscow and significantly damaged relations with Chisinau.