Moldovan opposition leader Alexander Stoyanoglou, who lost the presidential vote in November last year, told reporters that he had formed and would lead a three-party coalition to oppose the pro-Western ruling majority in parliamentary elections later this year, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
Announcing the new coalition, Stoyanoglou said yesterday at a briefing in Chisinau that his main priority is "consolidating Moldovan society. We will not divide people into good and bad, our voters and foreign people, different nationalities", the former Moldovan prosecutor general said. He outperformed expectations and narrowly ousted pro-Western President Maia Sandu last year, but lost in the second round of the election after campaigning for a balanced foreign policy, one that was open to both Russia and the West. Stoyanoglou was backed by the pro-Moscow Bloc of Communists and Socialists of Moldova.
The parliamentary elections, due by October 26 but not yet scheduled, are expected to be contested and could significantly reduce the number of seats held by Sandu's pro-Western Action and Solidarity Party.
Moldova, sandwiched between Ukraine and Romania, is a geopolitical battleground between Russia and the West, with a Romanian-speaking majority and a large Russian-speaking minority, Reuters notes.
Sandu's government aims to bring the country into the EU by 2030.