Moldovan President Maia Sandu has said that the biggest threats to the September elections are corruption and illegal Russian financing, Reuters reports.
There is a possibility that Sandu’s party could lose its parliamentary majority in the elections scheduled for the 28th of September. The president said that Russia wants to regain control of Moldova from September and is preparing to interfere in the electoral process on an unprecedented scale. The Kremlin has denied that it intends to interfere in any way.
Since Moldova’s pro-European government has started pushing the former Soviet bloc country towards European Union membership, its relations with Russia have deteriorated. Sandu said that
the biggest threats posed by Russian interference in Moldova’s internal affairs are a threat to the country’s security and sovereignty,
and blocking the path to EU membership.
Moldova has previously accused Russia of trying to disrupt the presidential election and a referendum on EU membership. Moscow also rejects these accusations. According to the Moldovan government, Russia’s main tools are vote buying, cyber attacks, disinformation campaigns and paid protests.
A poll released in July showed that the Sands party had 27.4% support. Moldova’s Central Election Commission this month refused to register a pro-Russian party backed by oligarch Ilan Shor, a known Kremlin supporter, on its party list. The decision was based on a violation of party financing laws; Shor called the ban absurd.
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