Moldovans vote in tense election on EU future

Moldova President Maia Sandu addresses the media after casting her vote for the presidential election at a polling station in Chisinau November 3, 2024. [AFP]

Moldovans were voting on Sunday in a tense presidential election runoff that could decide whether the ex-Soviet country continues on a pro-European path or tilts back toward Russia's influence.

The election in the small nation sandwiched between war-torn Ukraine and the EU is taking place amid fears of Russian interference, and just two weeks after a referendum on joining the European Union passed by a razor-thin margin.

Pro-EU incumbent Maia Sandu scored 42.5 percent of the vote in the first round of the presidential election two weeks ago. Alexandr Stoianoglo, supported by the pro-Russian Socialists and who was fired as prosecutor general by Sandu last year, received 26 percent.

But Stoianoglo has since gained the support of other defeated candidates and analysts are predicting a close battle, similar to Georgia's vote last weekend, when the ruling party won a contested parliamentary election.

In both ex-Soviet republics, Russia has been accused of seeking to sway voters, allegations it has denied.

Sandu, a 52-year-old fervent pro-Western former World Bank economist, blamed "foreign interference" for the narrow EU vote result, when 50.35 percent backed membership. Police said they had uncovered a Russian vote-buying scheme that could have affected up to a quarter of the ballots.

On Sunday, police said in a statement that "there are reasonable clues of organised transportation of voters both abroad and domestically."

"Today more than ever we have to be united, to keep the peace, to protect our vote, to protect our independence," Sandu said after casting her ballot.

"The thieves want to buy our vote, the thieves want to buy our country, but the power of the people is infinitely greater than any of their foul play," she added.

Ahead of the vote, Sandu's camp intensified campaigning on social media and in door-to-door visits in villages to try to counter any vote buying.

In messages sent to mobiles and even broadcast on supermarket loudspeakers, police have told people to refuse if they are offered money for their votes.

Police have reported a "massive phenomenon" of people receiving calls, emails, even death threats, to influence ballots.

Prime Minister Dorin Recean has called it an "extreme attack... to create panic and fear so that people will be afraid to go out and vote."

Sandu applied for Moldova, which has a population of 2.6 million, to join the EU after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Accession negotiations formally opened in June.

While Stoianoglo, 57, says he also favours joining the EU, he boycotted the referendum, describing it as a "parody", and promised voters a "balanced foreign policy" that would repair links with Moscow.

If he wins, Moldova could formally maintain its EU ambitions, but he may take decisions that thwart them, analysts say.

When voting on Sunday, he said he wanted to create "a Moldova that does not beg, but develops harmonious relations with both East and West."

"I have no relations with the Kremlin, nor with representatives of other states, nor with special services," said Stoianoglo, who usually gives speeches that mix Russian with Romanian, the official language.

"I have never participated in vote buying, the party that supports me in this election does not participate in vote buying," he said.

Moldova is already deeply polarised. A large diaspora and the capital mostly favour joining the EU, while rural areas and the pro-Russian separatist regions of Transnistria and Gagauzia are against.

"We trust Maia Sandu to take us down the right path... (but) here there is still a Soviet flavour. And this Soviet flavour runs deep to the bone," a 56-year-old pensioner who only gave her name as Acsenia said.

Others, like Zinovia Zaharovna, 75, said they reject joining the EU, wanting Moldova "to be an independent country".

"Many people fear war and see a candidate who would have a good relationship with Moscow as a guarantee that we will not be attacked as well," Andrei Curararu, an analyst at the Chisinau-based WatchDog think tank, told AFP.

The vote is being closely watched internationally for signs of Russian interference.

For Curararu, "the pressure is unprecedented" with more than $100 million estimated to have been spent on "destabilisation activities".

"Moldova is paying a high cost" for aiming to move away from Russia, he said.

Polling stations opened on Sunday at 7:00 am (0500 GMT) and will close at 9:00 pm, with the first partial results expected an hour later.