Putin has checking: Moldova has been retained for Europe

Relief in Europe: With an unexpectedly big lead, the Pro-European party only won the parliamentary elections on Sunday in Moldova’s parliament elections from President Maia Sandu. Only 50.2 percent of the votes got the majority in parliament with 55 seats. The Pro-Russian alliance Bep (Patriotic block) remained stuck at 24.2 percent. The strategically located Moldova continues the road to the European Union, Putin has it checked.

The outcome Is surprising because Russia has tried with all kinds of means to influence the elections. With disinformation on social media, voters were scared of the progressive values ​​of the EU and in involvement in the war in neighboring Ukraine. Citizens were converted To demonstrate or vote for pro-Russian parties. Websites of the government were attacked, on election day there were bomb reports at foreign polling stations.

All European leaders who congratulated Moldova on Monday, referred to the Russian interference. They praised the population because they have stuffed Russian manipulation, they concluded that Europe could learn a lot from it and warned that Russia will mix more and more in elections in Europe. The Ukrainian President VolodyMyr Zensky, like many other European leaders present at a auction conference in Warsaw, found that “Russia subversive influence will not spread further in Europe.”

The unexpected big victory has the advantage that the party does not have to form a shaky coalition with a party that wants to undermine EU integration. Of the five parties that reached the electoral threshold, the only pronounced Pro-European party is only. Beforehand, political chaos after the elections were feared. Another ghost image is now less obvious: violent protest against the results from the pro-Russian camp. The difference between Pas and Bep is too great to question.

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Voters abroad

In addition to the European relief and the compliments for Moldovies of resilience, there are some comments about the victory of the Pass.

Just as with the presidential election at the end of last year, President Sandu leans strongly on Moldavian voters abroad. They form an important part of the electorate: Sunday were 277,965 of the total of 1,578,731 votes. These emigrants experience the benefits of the EU, only 5 percent of them voted for the pro-Russian alliance Bep, compared to 79 percent for PAS. In Moldova itself, only 44 percent of the votes, against 28 for Bep, achieved a less difference than with the total result.

The locations of the polling stations worked in this way. In Italy there were 75, in Russia two. Only 4,109 Moldavians came to vote, of the hundreds of thousands who live there. Residents of the separatist pro-Russian region of Transnistria had to drive a lot to vote. They can’t do that in their region. The nearest polling station was twenty kilometers from the border.

The government of Sandu can count on substantial financial and diplomatic support from Brussels. The timing of the extradition van Vladimir Plachotnjoets, a former Moldavian politician and one of the suspects of the “Theft of the century”, the disappearance of 1 billion dollars from three Moldavian banks in 2014. A few days before the elections he was extradited to Moldova by Greece. The image of the Oligarch arrested was favorable for Sandu: fight against corruption is one of her spearheads. Pressure from Brussels on Athens, which initially prevented the extradition, is likely.

Most of the criticism, also in careful terms of OSCE observers, came to the decision of the Electoral Council two days before the elections two pro-Russian parties to exclude participation. The Hart van Moldova party, which is part of the Patriotic Blok, and the Party for Great Moldova were accused of illegal financing, bribing voters and shadowy foreign funds.

Finally: the low turnout of 52 percent cannot be charged, but says something about the vulnerable support of the Pro-European camp.

You have made a clear choice. Europe. Democracy. Freedom. Our door is open

EU TO

“You have made a clear choice. Europe. Democracy. Freedom. Our door is open. The future is up to you.” Thus European Commission Chairman Ursula von der Leyen on social media Monday morning. Moldova hopes to join the EU in 2030. Maia Sandu can now continue her ambition to achieve that. The big question, both for Brussels and for the Chisinau government, is what the best strategy is for that.

At the beginning of 2022, shortly after the large -scale Russian attack on Ukraine, Ukraine and Moldova asked at the same time EU membership On. The new geopolitical situation made the link of both procedures logical and ensured that the first steps were taken energetically. Hungary is now blocking the progress of the EU procedure for Ukraine, and therefore also for Moldova.

Decoupling the two applications seems obvious, but has Significant disadvantages. Fast accession was intended as a strategic advantage for Ukraine, and that would be lost. Admitting to the strategy of Viktor Orbán is also not very attractive. In the coming period, it must be apparent which Brussels can be found from this dilemma.

And the other camp, in Moscow? The Kremlin mainly wants to propagate that it has nothing to do with Moldova, according to the statement from spokesperson Dmitri Peskov to journalists. “As far as we know, some political parties express their dissatisfaction with possible irregularities in the elections – that’s what we hear.”

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