Supporters and opponents of Moldova’s entry into the European Union are technically related after the control of 98.42% of the votes cast during a referendum constitutional boycotted by Russia, which Chisinau accuses of resorting to all kinds of stratagems to cause the consultation to fail.
Support for Yeah overturned the result in the last hours after the Moldovan president, Maia Sandu, reported last night fraud in a clear accusation against groups close to Russia.
“We have evidence and information that a criminal group intended to buy 300,000 votes. This is an unprecedented fraud whose objective is to compromise democracy. Their goal is to spread fear and panic in society,” Sandu said.
The Spanish
The referendum is virtually tied, recording a 50.08% in favor and a 49.92% against, according to preliminary data at 98.42% of the control.
The difference between the Yeah and the No to the question “Do you support the amendment of the Constitution with a view to the accession of the Republic of Moldova to the European Union?” is located less than 2,300 votes, As noted on the Central Election Commission’s website, although counting is currently continuing and the difference is so close that it is not clear which of the two options will come out on top.
Election day saw a sharp division in the former Soviet republic between those who support EU membership –Romanian speakers, young people and the diaspora– and those who oppose the break with Russia, among whom are the Russian speakers, the nostalgic and the older.
Maia Sandu
The EU referendum took place to coincide with the presidential elections, in which the president Maia Sandu was the first option (41.98%) ahead of the pro-Russian party Alexander Stoianoglo (26.31%).
The two will have to face each other in the second round which will take place on November 3, since none of the candidates obtained more than 50% of the necessary votes.
Reuters
The black hand of the Kremlin
Sandu stressed in his post-election intervention that “today, as in recent months, freedom and democracy in Moldova have been the subject of unprecedented attack”, as reported by the Moldovan portal Journalist.
“Criminal groups, associated with foreign forces, They attacked our country with lies and propaganda (…) We will never stop defending freedom and democracy. We will wait for the final results and come back with solutions,” he added.
The president mentioned without mentioning the Kremlin and the fugitive oligarch Ilon Shor, that the Moldovan prosecutor’s office accused on the eve of the vote of having created a fraudulent scheme by Moscow for the purchasing around 130,000 votes with $15 million deposited in Russian banks.
According to other sources, Russia spent $100 million to boycott the referendum aimed at including in the preamble to the Constitution the Moldovans’ aspiration to join the European bloc.
In recent weeks, the EU and the United States have denounced numerous attempts by Moscow to destabilize the situation in Moldova in the run-up to the European referendum. This is why they approved new sanctions packages against Moscow and its acolytes.
The war silenced the European illusion
Actions from Moldova border with Ukraine, The war therefore had a great impact on the national economy due to the arrival of more than a million refugees, of whom more than 120,000 are still in the country, according to the UNHCR.
Since Sandu came to power in 2020, the pandemic and energy war with Russia, which triggered inflation.
It helped that the Moldovan government, which began accession negotiations in December 2023, received a big boost from Brussels on the eve of the vote with an aid package of 1.8 billion dinars. euros for the next three years.
According to the CEC, the pro-Russian electorate, including that of the autonomy of Gagauzia – more than 95% against -, was much more vocal than the voters of the capital, Chisinau, and the emigrants – more than 70% for -, more inclined to enter the European bloc.
Boycott of pro-Russian candidates
Although Stoianoglo, a former attorney general, and the third candidate in the running, Renato Usatii, They proclaimed that they were not opposed to European integration, they ultimately boycotted the referendum, as did the Moldovan communists.
Stoianoglo argued that did not vote in the popular consultation “as a sign of protest” due to the authorities’ inability to explain the legal implications of including Moldovans’ aspiration to join the EU in the preamble to the Constitution.
Without mentioning it, both called for the vote of fear, referring to the fact that entry into the EU, which helped Moldova strengthen its armed forces in the face of the Russian threat, is a first step towards a future membership of NATO.
Former President Igor Dodon, a close Kremlin ally whose party supported Stoianoglo, went further and openly called the referendum a “ “illegal” and “unconstitutional”.
