A Latvian choir celebrates Moldova’s victory in an international competition by cheering in support of the European referendum near the Moldovan Parliament in Chisinau, Moldova, on Monday. Pierre Krom/Getty Images Hide caption
Toggle caption Pierre Crome/Getty Images
The former Soviet republic of Moldova voted on Sunday to secure its path to the European Union in a referendum overshadowed by allegations of Russian election interference due to its geopolitical importance.
The vote enshrines Moldova’s ambition to join the EU in its constitution, marking a fundamental departure from more than a century of Russian influence.
However, the referendum passed by a narrow margin, with just 50.39% voting “yes”, according to the Central Election Commission, and EU supporters say they have a wide range of opinions on Europe’s future. This created ambiguity in a vote that was expected to show a strong desire. The vote appeared to raise questions about the level of public support for policies such as joining many of the Western sanctions against Russia over its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. These policies have earned Moldova praise in the West, but have increased tensions with the Kremlin.
“Choosing this route and holding a referendum was a huge political risk for them, and it didn’t pay off,” said a site official who requested anonymity to speak candidly to NPR about the apparent strategic miscalculation. said an observer.
Two women vote in Moldova’s presidential election and referendum on membership in the European Union at a polling station in the village of Hirbovac, Moldova, on Sunday. Daniel Mikhailescu/AFP via Getty Images Hide caption
Toggle caption Daniel Mikhailescu/AFP via Getty Images
“This completely feeds into the narrative that Moldovans are very conflicted and do not overwhelmingly agree that they should join the EU.”
Moldova also voted for the president.
Presidential elections were also held in Moldova on Sunday, but again failed to deliver the landslide victory leaders had hoped for. President Maia Sandu led all challengers, but with a score of 42.45%, she fell short of the performance needed to win in the first round.
Sandu is currently in a November 3 run-off with Socialist Party candidate Alexandre Stoianoglo, a former prosecutor who has boycotted the EU referendum and suggested Moldova would be better off seeking smoother relations with Russia. facing.
Sandu’s political fate may depend on how much other opposition candidates (there were originally 10) choose to consolidate around Stoianoglo in the coming days.
Sandu, meanwhile, claimed victory but said there had been an “unprecedented attack” on Moldova’s democracy that skewed the result.
“This is what the Moldovan people are saying: The future of our EU is firmly rooted in our constitution. We fought fairly in an unfair battle, and we won,” she said on social media platform X I wrote this.
A Moldovan citizen said: Our EU’s future will be firmly rooted in our constitution. We fought fair in an unfair battle, and we won.
However, the battle is not over. We will continue to strive for peace, prosperity and the freedom to build our own future.
— Maia Sandu (@sandumaiamd) October 21, 2024
Interference claims
The vote unfolded amid accusations by Moldova and the EU that Russia tried to influence the vote with disinformation claiming that a vote for the EU could draw Moldova directly into the Ukraine conflict.
Ahead of the vote, Moldovan police announced that they had discovered a mass vote-buying scheme. Fugitive Moldovan oligarch Ilan Shor, now living in Moscow, has openly offered to pay Moldovans cash to vote against the EU bid, authorities have announced.
According to Russia’s Tass news agency, Shor rejected the claim as an “absurd spectacle.”
Western election observers suggested it was too early to tell how much what they called a “hurricane” of disinformation and vote buying contributed to the referendum’s narrow margin.
“When an individual user opens social media, they see three, four, or even five comments that have nothing to do with the post,” says the National Institute for Democracy, a U.S. government-funded organization. says Stephanie Rust. Democracy. Rather, all of the comments were aimed at questioning the EU or denigrating Sandu, Rust said.
The Kremlin, for its part, has strongly denied interfering in the election and suggested that European promises to bring in new investments were a direct attempt to sway the vote.
Reacting to the results announced on Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov suggested that a late surge in pro-EU votes also “raised doubts” about the integrity of the referendum.
Long lines snaked around the city block outside the Moldovan embassy in Moscow on Sunday as thousands of foreign nationals gathered to cast their votes at the city’s only two polling stations.
Most openly campaigned against the EU vote.
“Europe has no future,” said Lyubov Kuzmina, an entrepreneur who sent money to relatives in Moldova. “Look at the price of gasoline. Currently, Moldova buys it from Europe at three times the price of Russia,” she said.
“Everyone understands very well that the European Union has no intention of accepting Moldova,” added Tatiana Tulka, a recent university graduate. She said she moved to Russia for economic reasons but hopes to return to Moldova, one of Europe’s poorest countries, someday.
Still, some suggested that the referendum and the Kremlin’s pressure to oppose it forced Moldova into a choice many would rather avoid.
“We don’t want a vote for closer ties with Russia to mean that we no longer care about the West,” said Anatoly Popenko, a Moldovan who runs a construction business in Moscow. “That’s just stupid.”
Charles Maynes reported from Moscow. NPR’s Frank Langfitt reported from Moldova in 2022 and contributed to this story from Washington, D.C.
