European leaders breathed a collective sigh of relief Monday as Moldova remained on its pro-EU path in a high-stakes parliamenatry election marred by Russian influence operations.
With more than 99.9 percent of the ballots counted, the pro-EU Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) secured victory with 50.2 percent, well ahead of the pro-Russian Patriotic Electoral Bloc (BEP), which collected 24.2 percent of the vote.“Moldova, you’ve done it again. No attempt to sow fear or division could break your resolve,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in a post on X.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas echoed her boss, saying that Moldova’s vote is a “clear yes to a European future.”
“Despite Russia’s massive efforts to spread disinformation and buy votes, no force can stop a people committed to freedom,” Kallas said.Sunday’s parliamentary election was heavily targeted by the Kremlin, seeking — but ultimately failing — to nudge the post-Soviet country back into its sphere of influence, according to analysts and Moldovan President Maia Sandu.
Further congratulations for the pro-EU movement poured in from Kyiv, Warsaw and Prague.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he called Sandu to congratulated her on her party’s victory.
“These elections showed that Russia’s destabilizing activity loses, while Moldova in Europe wins. Russian subversion, constant disinformation — none of this worked. It is important that Moldova was effective in defending itself against threats together with all who helped,” he said.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk added that the election was “a good lesson for us all.”
“It took real courage of the Moldovan nation and Maia Sandu personally to win this election. Not only did you save democracy and kept the European course, but you have also stopped Russia in its attempts to take control over the whole region. A good lesson for us all,” he said.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, who faces being ousted from office by populist right-winger Andrej Babiš in an election this weekend, expressed hope for his own country.
“Great news from Moldova! … Voters in Moldova gave a clear stop to the pro-Russian parties. This is hope also for Czechia; please come to the polls and don’t let the country fall to Russian collaborators,” Fiala wrote.
The reaction from Moscow, however, was rather more sour.
Russia wasted little time in denouncing Moldova’s election outcome, casting the victory for Sandu’s party as being illegitimate and orchestrated.
Alexander Gusev, a Kremlin-aligned political scientist and professor at the Russian Academy of Sciences, accused Sandu of manipulating the process to cement her pro-European course.
“The Moldovan authorities, and Sandu personally, are doing everything to ensure that these elections effectively confirm her legitimacy and the course toward European integration,” he told the state-owned news agency RIA Novosti. “For them there is no such thing as justice, they have a simple task and they carry it out like puppets of Europe.”
Leonid Slutsky, chair of the foreign affairs committee in Russia’s lower house of parliament, dismissed Sandu’s victory as a “Pyrrhic” one.
“As a result of these elections, Moldova will become even more divided,” he warned, adding that “Sandu’s regime is leading Moldova down the path of Ukraine.”
Eva Hartog contributed to this report.
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