Pro-EU party in Moldova wins election mired in claims of Russian interference

The Party of Moldovan’s President, MENO Sando, is heading to victory and a new majority in Parliament in the elections, which are decisive in the path of its future country to the European Union.

Sando, who warned of the “massive Russian intervention” after the vote on Sunday, said that the future of her country, which is surrounded by Ukraine and Romania, was at stake.

With the calculation of 96 % of 1.6 meters votes, the Sandu’s Labor and Solidarity Party was about to win by 50 % of the votes, ahead of the national electoral block loyal to Russia over less than 25 %. The turnout was more than 52 %, higher than it was in recent years.

One of the main opposition leaders, Igor Dodon, has claimed victory even before the results began and called for protests outside Parliament on Monday.

Moldovan’s recent voices were much closer, but it was ultimately clear that Sandu’s party was on its way to another majority in Parliament 101 seats.

Four years ago, the President’s party won 52.8 % of the votes, and based on the latest results, it was now appointed to 54 seats.

To form a government, you will not need to rely on support from other parties, such as the alternative or populist bloc of our party.

In a degree of tension surrounding the vote, bombs were reported at the polling stations in Italy, Romania, Spain and the United States.

Similar concerns were reported in Moldova itself and three people were arrested on suspicion of planning disturbances the day after the vote. The head of Sando, Igor Grosso, blamed the criminal groups backed by Moscow for Sunday’s incidents and appealed to “patience and calm” to allow the electoral operation to continue.

Moldova also has a separate pocket in support of Russia called Transnistria along its borders with Ukraine, with a Russian military.

Population of this shrapnel from the ground has Moldovan’s passports. Many of the leader of the Socialist Party supporting Moscow said, and Igor Dodon said there was “all kinds of harassment, which prevents them from voting.”

The Moldov has been exposed to Russia’s war on the neighboring Ukraine, but it is also wrestling with vortex and high levels of corruption.

President Sando, 53, who won his second position last November, warned that the future of their democracy was in their hands: “Do not play with your vote or you will lose everything!”

Dodon, one of the main competitors of Sando, went on national television as soon as opinion polls were closed to demand his pro -Russian allies in the national electoral bloc in the elections, although there are no exit polls and before announcing any early results.

Al -Moldov thanked the vote with “standard numbers”, Dodon called on the PAS government to leave power, and for the forms of all opposition parties to go to the streets on Monday “to defend their vote outside Parliament in the middle of the day.

“We will not allow stability to destabilize,” promised. “The citizens have voted. Their vote must be respected even if you don’t like,” he added with President Sando and her party.

One of the two parties in the Dodon bloc was prevented from running two days before voting due to alleged illegal financing.

In the previous vote, the police reported evidence of an unprecedented effort by Russia to spread misleading information and buy votes. Dozens of men were also arrested, and they were accused of traveling to Serbia to train firearms and coordinate disturbances. BBC’s investigation revealed a network He promised to pay the participants if they published propaganda supporting Russia and fake news.

The sympathetic parties with Moscow rejected the police demands that they are fake and offered – the government created it to intimidate people to support them. The Russian Embassy in the United Kingdom rejected the BBC allegations, accusing Moldova and “Western sponsors” of seeking to turn attention from “internal problems” in Cecino.

Inside all the BBC polling stations, a small camera was placed on a traibood overlooking the transparent polls.

Elections observers said they were registering everything, to be verified if there were any reports of violations.

“We voted for this four years ago and we were pleased to continue with it. We see what happens every day in Ukraine and we are concerned about it,” said Dan Spazar, who was at a polling station in the capital with his young daughter.

Moldova obtained a candidate for the European Union in 2022 alongside Ukraine, four months after Russia has invaded Ukraine.

Marina said that she voted “for peace in Moldova, for a better life, to develop our economy” and felt that it would be very difficult for her country to continue her way to Europe with a government supporting Russia.

On the edge of the separatist Transnistria Jeep in Moldova on Sunday, a long waiting list of cars waited to 12 ballot stations opened outside the administrative borders, some of them are more than 20 km (12 miles).

People had to travel a long way from home and the number of voters in recent years was more than 12,000, an indication of the conflict that many faced.

Moldovan police examined documents and cars before allowing them to pass. Most cars had many people inside, and they are often entire families.

By mid -afternoon, the waiting list extended to the distance beyond a booth with a hammer logo and a Soviet -style phase on top, and the green and red traditions.

Speaking to the drivers, most of them looked not interested in inconvenience, and the atmosphere was relatively comfortable.

One of the BBC men in the Russian language told that he was voting for change because the PAS government “promised heaven and had nothing.” No one will be more specific than that, as he insisted on his preference for a “secret” vote.

Nearly from the Lenin giant statue in the town of Anini Nuwi, southeast of Moldovan Capital, a group of voters from the Transinsteria complained that they had been sent first to one town, and after that, the polling station bomb was closed. They believed that this was deliberately done to postpone the vote.

A man said he was running a “Russian action” in the separatist pocket and was clear that he wanted to return to power.