Shaken after narrowly winning victory of supporters of EU membership in a referendum nearly two weeks ago, on Sunday Moldova will vote in a runoff for the head of state. The country faces a crucial choice between pro-Western incumbent Maya Sandu and a candidate calling for closer ties with Moscow.
After the parliamentary elections in Georgia, in which the ruling party won, but its victory was disputed by several European institutions, all eyes are on Chisinau.
Russia has been accused of meddling in the election process in these two former Soviet republics. The Kremlin categorically denies these accusations.
Massive vote-buying, disinformation, propaganda: "We won fairly in an unfair battle,", Sandu said after the highly contested referendum on Moldova's EU membership on October 20. Sandhu said a "tough battle" in the second round of the presidential elections in the country with a population of 2.6 million people, a neighbor of Ukraine.
Fifty-two-year-old Sandu, an economist by training who has become a leading European figure, won the first round with 42.49% of the vote. She now faces a runoff against 52-year-old Alexander Stoyanoglo, who received 25.95%. Stoyanoglo is a former prosecutor supported by the pro-Russian socialists.
"The Cheaters"
The lead is big, but the battle is far from won for the head of state Sandu. Several minor candidates have called for support for her opponent, citing the risk of Moldova being drawn into an armed conflict with Moscow and suffering the same fate as Ukraine. There were such messages in Georgia as well.
Stoyanoglo, a skilled orator whose speeches sometimes invoke Russian words, wants a balanced foreign policy toward Russia and the EU, with which accession talks officially began in June.
He boycotted the referendum, calling it a “parody” serving the ambitions of Maia Sandu, and contested the extremely close results after 50.35% supported enshrining the aspiration for EU membership in the constitution.
On the "final right" authorities stepped up efforts against the risk of foreign interference.
In supermarkets, on loudspeakers or on their phones, residents received messages urging them to “beware of election fraud”.
“If you are offered money to vote against one of the candidates on Sunday, refuse”, police warn.
In videos broadcast on social networks, Maya Sandu calls on voters: "Do not give in to crooks who steal your dignity, steal your freedom and want to destroy Moldova for decades to come.
She also called on the judicial system to “wake up” and better fight corruption, accusing “criminal groups” in an attempt to bribe at least 300,000 people.
Between East and West
Oligarch in exile Ilan Shor, who is in Moscow, is suspected of having transferred $39 million (€36 million) since September through a Russian bank for this purpose.
Despite being convicted in absentia of fraud last year, he denies breaking the law and describes Moldova as a “police state” and “puppet of the West“.
But experts also point to the economic difficulties in the country, which is one of the poorest in Europe and is fueled by an influx of European aid.
While Maya Sandu toured world capitals in search of financial support, the situation for many Moldovans worsened amid reduced Russian gas supplies and a sharp rise in energy prices.
After four years in power and a drastic pro-European turn, Moldova appears deeply divided.
On one side are the diaspora and the capital, which have been won over to the European cause. On the other side are remote villages, as well as two autonomous regions - Transnistria and Gagauzia, oriented towards Russia.
“Both the East and the West want to win us over to their side,” Chisinau resident Maria, who declined to give her last name, told AFP.
Call center operator says she "doesn't want to depend on anyone" and advocates "relations with both sides".
For the 19-year-old student Denis Parnao, the “development of Moldova” is at stake in Sunday's elections. . “We will lose a financial resource and our image among our European partners will be damaged if Maya Sandu does not win,", he believes.
Kalman Mižei, an advisor to the government from the EU, is confident that the country will continue its European path.
„Against the background of the terrible war in Ukraine and the bad news in Georgia, I still want to hope that Moldova will continue to give a ray of hope,” he told journalists.