According to her, criminal groups with support from abroad tried to buy up to 300,000 votes to undermine the election.
“Moldova is facing an attack on the country’s freedom and democracy, both today and in recent months, which has no parallel,” Sandu told supporters in Chisinau. She added that there is “clear evidence” that votes have been bought, which she refers to as “fraud on an unparalleled scale”:
– Their aim was to undermine a democratic process. Their intention was to spread fear and panic in society. We are waiting for the final results and will respond strongly, she said.
Double choice
Moldovans went to the polls on Sunday to vote for both a new president and a proposal to constitutionalize the ambition to join the EU.
When 92 percent of the votes had been counted, 52 percent had voted no on the EU question and 47 percent yes. Analysts believe that the Yes side can still win, because the votes of the Moldovan diaspora, which is largely pro-EU, have not been counted.
At the same time, Sandu had received 38 percent of the votes in the presidential election and was set to meet his biggest rival, Alexandr Stoianoglo, in a second round. The Russian-friendly Stoianoglo had received 28 percent of the vote. The stage is therefore set for a second round of elections on 3 November.
EU-friendly Sandu was the favorite to win ahead of Sunday’s double election.
Accusations in the prelude
Ahead of the election, NATO chief Mark Rutte has accused Russia of trying to stop Moldova’s path towards EU membership. The country’s provisional government and president have also accused Russia of untimely interference, including by means of disinformation, computer attacks and bribes.
The country’s authorities have made several accusations against the oligarch Ilan Shor, who lives in Russia. He was earlier in October jailed in absentia for fraud and theft for trying to pay a network of at least 130,000 voters to vote no to the EU and support Shor’s preferred candidate in the election.
On social media, Shor has openly offered money to Moldovans to convince others to vote the way he wants, which he says is a legitimate use of the money he has earned.
On the night of Monday, he declared that the Moldovans had voted down the EU ambition, adding that “today I congratulate you”. Furthermore, he addressed Sandu and wrote that she “lost the battle”.
Before the election, Moldovan authorities took down websites that they believe promoted disinformation and announced that they had uncovered a program in Russia that was supposed to train Moldovans to organize riots and unrest.
Line changer
Moldova lies between Romania and war-torn Ukraine and has been pulled in both a pro-Western and pro-Russian direction since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Relations with Russia have cooled during Sandu’s time as president. Her government has condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, accused Russia of plotting to topple her and diverted supplies. She wants to bring the country into the EU by 2030.
Russia accuses her of acting Russophobic.
In the opinion polls before the election, there was a clear majority for the yes side in the EU question.
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