Moldova barely approves its EU referendum amid allegations of Russian interference

The people of Moldova have spoken: our EU future will now be anchored in the constitution. We fought fairly in an unfair fight—and we won.

But the fight isn’t over. We will keep pushing for peace, prosperity, and the freedom to build our own future.

— Maia Sandu (@sandumaiamd) October 21, 2024

Interference claims

The votes unfolded amid accusations in Moldova and the EU that Russia tried to influence the vote with disinformation that claimed a vote for the EU was likely to draw Moldova directly into the Ukrainian conflict.

In advance of the vote, Moldovan police said they uncovered a mass vote-buying scheme. Ilan Shor, a fugitive Moldovan oligarch currently living in Moscow, had openly offered to pay Moldovans cash to vote against the EU bid, the authorities said.

Shor rejected the allegation as an “absurd spectacle,” according to Russia’s Tass news agency.

Western election monitors suggested it was too early to judge the degree to which what they described as a “hurricane” of disinformation as well as vote buying contributed to the referendum’s razor-thin margin.

“An individual user opens up their social media and they’re seeing … three or four or five comments that are completely unrelated to the posts,” says Stephanie Rust, of the National Democratic Institute, a U.S.-government funded organization that supports democracy. Instead, Rust says, the comments were all casting doubt on the EU or denigrating President Sandu.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin has vehemently denied interfering in the elections, and suggested European promises to bring new investments were more direct attempts to sway the vote.

Reacting to the results published Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov suggested a late surge in pro-EU ballots had also “raised questions” about the referendum’s integrity.

Outside the Moldovan Embassy in Moscow Sunday, long lines snaked around the block as thousands of citizens abroad turned out to cast ballots at the city’s two lone polling stations.

Most campaigned openly against the EU vote.

“We have no future in Europe,” said Lyubov Kuzmina, an entrepreneur who said she sent remittances home to relatives in Moldova. “Just look at the price of gas. Today Moldova buys it from Europe at three times the price” compared to Russia, she said.

“Everyone perfectly well understands that the European Union has no intention of accepting Moldova,” added Tatiana Tsurka, a recent university graduate. She said she moved to Russia for economic reasons but hoped to one day return home to Moldova, which is one of the poorest countries in Europe.

Still, others suggested that the referendum — and Kremlin pressure to oppose it — amounted to Moldova being force-fed a choice many would rather avoid.

“I wouldn’t want our vote for closer relations with Russia would mean the West is no longer of interest to us,” says Anatoly Popenko, a Moldovan who runs a construction business in Moscow. “That’s just dumb.”

Charles Maynes reported from Moscow. NPR’s Frank Langfitt, who reported from Moldova in 2022, contributed to this story from Washington, D.C.

Copyright 2024 NPR

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Publish date : 2024-10-21 15:48:00

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