The Kremlin has accused Moldovan authorities of preventing hundreds of thousands of Moldovans living in Russia from voting in the crucial parliamentary elections by providing only two polling stations for voters in the country, reports "Reuters", quoted by News.bg.
Moldova's pro-European ruling party won a landslide victory over its pro-Russian rival in parliamentary elections on Sunday, results show. This is a major boost for Moldovans who want to join the EU and break away from Moscow's orbit.
In a conversation with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Moldovans living in Russia, who are traditionally more likely to vote for pro-Russian political forces at home, were unable to exercise their right to vote.
“Hundreds of thousands of Moldovans were deprived of the opportunity to vote in the Russian Federation due to the fact that only two polling stations were open for them,“ Peskov said.
When asked whether Moscow would recognize the results, he noted that some political forces in Moldova had already spoken of violations. “First, the Moldovans themselves probably have to deal with this. As far as we know, some political forces are expressing disagreement. "They are talking about possible election violations," he added.
According to Russian authorities, about 500,000 Moldovan citizens live in Russia. Most major European countries, where there are fewer Moldovans than in Russia, had more than two polling stations available to voters.
Just over 4,000 votes were cast in Russia, about two-thirds of which went to the main pro-Russian bloc. By comparison, Moldovan citizens in Germany cast more than 38,000 votes in 36 different polling stations, most of them in support of the ruling party.