Moldova’s recent election has confirmed its choice between a path to the European Union or falling back into Moscow’s fold.
The parliamentary election, fraught with Russian interference, has been won by the pro-Western ruling party, which garnered 50.1% of the vote.
The pro-Russian Patriotic Electoral Bloc had 24.2%. The Russia-friendly Alternativa Bloc came third, followed by the populist Our Party.
The tense ballot on Sunday pitted the governing pro-European Action and Solidarity party will hold a clear majority of about 55 of the 101 seats in the legislature.
Cristian Cantir, a Moldovan associate professor of international relations at Oakland University, said the PAS victory was ‘a clear win for pro-European forces in Moldova’.
He added: ‘A PAS majority saves the party from having to form a coalition that would have most likely been unstable and would have slowed down the pace of reforms to join the EU.
Professor Cantir was clear that the battle between Russia and Moldova is far from over, saying the country is in a ‘difficult geopolitical environment characterised by Russia’s attempts to pull it back into its sphere of influence’.
The election day was marked by a string of incidents, ranging from bomb threats at multiple polling stations abroad to cyber attacks on electoral and government infrastructure, voters photographing their ballots, and some being illegally transported to polling stations.
Three people were also detained, suspected of plotting to cause unrest after the vote.
Tensions have long been high between Moldova and Russia, which Putin has tried to sway back towards Russia, despite Moldova not being a part of Russia since the USSR.
In 2023, US officials warned that Kremlin-linked ‘actors’ were plotting to stage protests in Moldova to ‘destabilise’ it, with the end goal of seeing a more Russia-friendly administration in power.
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said at the time: ‘The activities of Russian groups attempting to target Moldova are of concern, but we should not overestimate their capabilities.’
Sandwiched between Ukraine and Romania, Moldova has often been at the centre of a struggle between Moscow and the West.
The push-and-pull has only intensified since Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The US declassified much of its intelligence in an effort to thwart Russia’s plans for Moldova, and committed to an additional $300 million to address the urgent needs created by the war in the country.
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