Pro-EU Party Triumphs in Moldova Election

By Staff, Agencies

Moldova’s pro-European Party of Action and Solidarity [PAS] has secured a narrow parliamentary majority in elections overshadowed by allegations of EU and Russian interference by the competing sides, near-complete results showed on Monday.

With 99.5% of ballots counted, the pro-EU PAS, led by President Maia Sandu, had won 50.03% of the vote, enough to maintain control of the 101-seat parliament, according to the Central Electoral Commission. The pro-Russia Patriotic Bloc trailed with 24.26%.

The outcome, slightly below the 52.8% PAS gained in 2021, is seen as pivotal for the small EU candidate nation, which borders Ukraine and hosts the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, most commonly known as Transnistria.

The vote was widely viewed as a referendum on whether Moldova would continue its path toward Brussels or drift back into Moscow’s orbit.

Analysts described the victory as tenuous. “Statistically speaking, PAS has guaranteed a fragile majority,” said Andrei Curararu of the Chisinau-based think tank WatchDog.md. But he warned that “the danger has not passed, as a functional government is difficult to form.”

Former president Igor Dodon, leader of the Patriotic Bloc, urged supporters to protest Monday, accusing PAS of election fraud. He warned that if falsifications occur overnight, they won’t recognize the results and will demand new elections.

Turnout reached 52%, roughly in line with participation in the 2021 parliamentary elections.

President Sandu warned of Russian interference, while Moldova’s cybersecurity agency stopped multiple attacks on election systems without impact.

In Transnistria, separatists accused Chisinau of limiting voter access by cutting polling stations. Moldovan prosecutors carried out hundreds of searches and made dozens of arrests over alleged electoral corruption and destabilization before the vote.

Despite the turbulence, analysts say the outcome will be crucial in determining whether Moldova can stay on track to meet its 2030 goal of EU membership.

Telegram founder Pavel Durov said French intelligence pressured him to remove Moldovan channels from the app in exchange for favorable treatment in his legal case in France.

In a statement on X, Durov said that while under judicial supervision in Paris after his 2024 arrest, French intelligence used an intermediary to pressure him to censor Moldovan channels for the government.

Durov said he removed only a few channels that broke rules but rejected France’s promise to praise him to the judge, calling it “unacceptable.”

Durov wrote that if the agency really contacted the judge, it was judicial interference; if not, it exploited his legal troubles to influence Eastern European politics.

The French Foreign Ministry dismissed the accusations, noting that Durov had made similar claims during elections in Romania earlier this year. “After Romania, Moldova. @durov likes making accusations while elections are ongoing,” the ministry wrote in English on X.

Durov, arrested in France in 2024 over disputed criminal charges, defends digital freedom. In July, Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service [SVR] warned NATO plans to militarize Moldova for aggression against Russia.

"According to the information received by the intelligence service, NATO is actively preparing to involve Moldova in a possible armed conflict with Russia," the SVR said.

"A decision has been taken in Brussels to transform this country into the alliance's frontline foothold on the eastern flank, taking into account Russian armed forces' advance in Ukraine," it added.

The SVR warned that NATO is exploiting Moldova's territory to facilitate rapid troop deployment near Russian borders and is imposing foreign military doctrines through newly built training centers.