Chisinau, Moldova (AP) – Moldova’s pro-European ruling leader is dull on interests in Sunday’s tense parliamentary elections. european union Or a country brought back under Russian orbit.
“The outcome of these elections defines the future of the country, not just the next four years, but many years ahead,” Igor Gross, president of ruling and solidarity, told the Associated Press on Thursday in the capital Chisinau.
His party has been a majority in parliament since 2021, but the risk of losing it in Sunday’s vote is to elect a new 101-seat parliament, with no other viable pro-European alternatives in the vote, but none of them Russia-friendly.
Gross, who also chairs the council, said Sunday’s vote was no longer merely. Choice of East and Westbut the choice of peace and war. “Peace means the EU, and war means Russia,” he said. “Things are very strict and very simplified.”
“These are at a crossroads and existential elections,” he added. “There’s no middle path or mid-way options.”
Russian interference allegations
The outcome of Sunday’s high-stakes elections may depend, at least in part, on how effective the Russian “hybrid war” is to undermine support for the PAS.
“We understand this, our opponents understand this, and by their opponents, I don’t just mean anything internal,” Grosu said. “I mean the Russian Federation and all the criminals and propagandists gathered around it… the interests are very high.”
The Grosu party has campaigned on a pledge that by 2028 would sign the Joint Treaty, double its revenue, modernize its infrastructure, and continue the Moldovan path to EU membership in the fight against corruption.
Comments from PAS leaders come the day after Moldova’s Prime Minister Dorinressing Russia warned that it was spending hundreds of millions of euros “Getting power in Chisinau” influences the outcome of Sunday’s vote, which is described as “our country’s siege.”
The alleged schemes include massive voting purchasing operations, more than 1,000 cyberattacks on this year’s critical government infrastructure, plans to incite Sunday’s election riots, and A vast online disinformation campaign Shaking voters.
Moscow has repeatedly denied interference in Moldova. In a statement Thursday, the Russian Foreign Ministry dismissed allegations of Russian interference in Moldova’s election as “anti-Russian” and “unfounded.”
“We see that the attack on Roshfovik by Moldovan officials is not understood or supported by the people of Moldovan,” said spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
Moldovan authorities have been stepping up their crackdown in recent months. this week, 74 people were detained during the attack of 250 people Russia-backed suspected plans as part of an investigation to incite mass riots Make the country unstable. It was one Confined to political party fundraising It is reportedly linked to Russia through cryptocurrency.
The UK warns of Russian interference
On Thursday, the UK’s Ministry of Defence issued a statement in Moldova ahead of the election that “Russia is almost certainly running a massive intervention campaign.”
“If the ruling party wins the majority of seats in the election, intelligence actors in Russia will almost certainly promote a narrative that undermines the integrity of the election,” the statement read.
The vote on Sunday will take place less than a year after Moldovan voted narrowly in support of securing the country’s EU path. But those votes were the same Hidden by widespread claims of Russian interference And a massive voting buying scheme that Moscow denied.
Grosu says Moldovan authorities are suitable for voting to counter Sunday’s intervention campaign, but it is a difficult fight.
“Unfortunately, Russia has a huge amount of resources: the finance, humanity, logistics, intelligence that it uses,” he said. “But I believe in Moldovan’s spirit of determination and mobilization at home and at the diaspora.”
Opposition parties want to “normalize” Russian relations
The PA’s key opponent in Sunday’s election is Bep, a Russian-friendly patriotic election bloc, a group of four political parties. The Bloc is campaigning on promising good relations with the EU, “normalization,” “permanent neutrality,” and “nation that serves people, not officials.”
On Thursday, the Chisinau Court of Appeals granted a request from the Justice Department to limit the centre of the Moldovan Party’s activities for 12 months, which is part of the BEP. The court’s decision comes after this month’s search of party members that led to voter bribery, illegal party funding and money laundering allegations.
Irina Vla, the leader of Moldova’s central area, is said to have silenced the party by calling the move “blatant political tricks.”
“All four weeks straight, we were attacked – mean, dirty, sarcasm,” she wrote on Facebook. “But if PAS wants to threaten or destroy us, they’re grossly wrong.”
It is unclear whether the decision can be appealed and how it will affect the election.
The court’s decision came on the same day that Vlah was banned from entering Poland, Latvia and Estonia.
Poland’s Foreign Ministry said the five-year ban was to “help the Russian Federation to interfere in preparing for parliamentary elections.”
Also on Thursday, Vladimir Plahotniuc, a fleeing Moldovan oligarch who was involved in a $1 billion bank fraud that fled. Moldova In 2019, it was handed over from Greece. After being detained there in July.
“Those who handcuff the entire country through threats, manufactured cases, illegal acquisitions of businesses, and enrichment at the expense of people are handcuffed before Moldova’s judicial system,” Prime Minister Recine said in a Facebook post. “Four years later, we see that criminals have no longer controlled Moldova.”
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Katy Marie Davis contributed to this report from Manchester, UK
