Country on EU course

Moldova: pro-Russian candidate in the lead

President Maia Sandu fought for her office and for her country's EU course.(Bild: APA/AFP/Daniel MIHAILESCU)

The pro-European incumbent Maia Sandu has declared herself the winner of the presidential election in Moldova. The voters had given "a lesson in democracy that is ripe for the history books", she said in a speech on Monday night.

The electoral commission confirmed Sandu's victory shortly afterwards: after more than 98 percent of the votes had been counted, she received 54.64 percent. Her pro-Russian opponent Alexandr Stoianoglo received 45.36 percent. In a conciliatory speech on Sunday evening, Sandu called for unity. She explained that she had heard the voices of both her supporters and her opponents.

A narrow victory for Sandu had already emerged on Sunday evening in the run-off election for the presidency in Moldova: According to initial partial results, Sandu initially led by a wafer-thin margin after more than 90 percent of the ballots had been counted, with 51.34 percent of the votes cast, ahead of Stoianoglo, who had 48.66 percent. She later extended this lead.

Moldovans living abroad once again flocked to the polls - more than 320,000 Moldovan citizens living abroad cast their votes on Sunday, which, according to the media, was the highest turnout among the diaspora since the country declared independence in 1991.

Former public prosecutor Alexandr Stoianoglo wants to stop further rapprochement with the EU.(Bild: APA/AFP/Daniel MIHAILESCU)

Cyberattacks and bomb threats
The final round of the Moldovan presidential race was overshadowed by a series of serious incidents: On the one hand, Moscow relied on aggressive propaganda and widespread voter bribery and, on the other, cyberattacks against the central election commission and false bomb threats, particularly against polling stations abroad, in order to disrupt the election process as often and for as long as possible.

At the same time, there were special flights from Russia for Moldovan guest workers who were brought to Azerbaijan, Belarus and Turkey to vote. Moldova's national security advisor accused Moscow of massive interference. The election interference posed a great risk of distorting the result, he said on X (formerly Twitter). The authorities are alarmed. In the Transnistria region of Moldova, where Russian troops are stationed, there are organized voter transports to the polls; this is illegal, he said according to dpa.

"Russia's dress rehearsal" for parliamentary elections in 2025
Former pro-European head of government Natalia Gavrilita said bitterly in an initial reaction after the polls closed that her country had just taken part in "not an election, but a real hybrid war". Observers spoke of a "dress rehearsal by Russia" for next year's parliamentary elections in Moldova.