Moldovans will go to polls on September 28 to vote in a pivotal parliamentary election that is expected to determine the former Soviet country’s political track. The nation will faces a choice between the ruling pro-European Action and Solidarity Party [PAS] and the Patriotic Electoral Bloc composed of several pro-Kremlin parties.
Recent polls suggest the Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) could struggle to keep its majority in the 101-seat legislature. Moldova has faced a number of problems since Russia’s full-fledged invasion of neighbouring Ukraine in 2022, with the government seeing rapprochement with the EU as critical for the country’s survival. Among the crisis bothering voters are unresolved corruption, high prices, slow reforms and integration with the European Union.
The incumbent president Maia Sandu who was elected in 2020 and re-elected last year has long advocated for the country’s integration with the EU and warned last week that Moldova “will not survive [Russian President] Putin’s threats unless it joins the EU.”
Addressing European lawmakers in Strasbourg in early September, Sandou also said the Kremlin seeks to “capture Moldova through the ballot box, to use us against Ukraine, and to turn us into a launchpad for hybrid attacks on the European Union.” Sandu has repeatedly accused Russia of meddling into the domestic affairs and electoral process of the country of 2.4 million. A recent report by the Moldovan news outlet Ziarul de Gardă revealed an extensive pro-Russian propaganda operation on social media, orchestrated from Moscow and supported by exiled Moldovan oligarch Ilan Șor.
The network, made up of hundreds of fake TikTok and Facebook accounts, has been spreading anti-Sandu and anti-EU content—mirroring strategies seen during Romania’s presidential election last year. The Kremlin has denied meddling into Moldova’s elections.
