Moldova's Sandu secures EU membership vote despite “unprecedented” Russian interference

PHOTO CAPTION: Maia Sandu, Chisinau, October 20, 2024. REUTERS/Vladislav Culiomza

By Tom Balmforth and Alexander Tanas

CHISINAU (Reuters) -President Maia Sandu said on Monday Moldovans had won a "first battle in a difficult fight" for their future, a day after a slim majority of 50.46% backed EU accession in a referendum that was clouded by allegations of Russia-backed meddling.

The knife-edge finish was a shock for supporters of Sandu, who had hoped the vote would deliver a firm message of intent to bring the ex-Soviet agricultural economy into the European Union by 2030 and leave Moscow's orbit for good.

"The people of Moldova have spoken: Our EU future will now be anchored in the constitution. We fought fairly in an unfair fight — and we won," Sandu wrote on X.

The result means a clause will be added to the constitution defining EU accession as a goal. Moldova began the long process of formal accession talks in June.

In a presidential election held alongside the referendum, Sandu won 42.45%, short of the 50% needed to win outright and paving the way for a Nov. 3 runoff against former prosecutor-general Alexandr Stoianoglo, who won 25.98%.

Earlier, Sandu, 52, had told Moldovans there was "clear evidence" that criminal groups backed by "foreign forces hostile to our national interests" had aimed to buy off 300,000 votes.

"Criminal groups... have attacked our country with tens of millions of euros, lies and propaganda, using the most disgraceful means to keep our citizens and our nation trapped in uncertainty and instability," she said.

In the run-up to the vote, authorities said there had been Moscow-backed meddling attempts spearheaded by fugitive tycoon Ilan Shor, including an effort to bribe 130,000 people to vote "no" and support a specific candidate at the election. Shor denies wrongdoing.

The Kremlin, which denies interfering, denounced the votes in Moldova as "unfree", casting doubt on what it said was a "hard-to-explain" increase in votes in favour of Sandu and the EU, and challenging her to "present evidence" of meddling.

The EU defended Sandu and said Moldova had faced "unprecedented intimidation and foreign interference by Russia and its proxies ahead of this vote".

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, welcomed the outcome of the referendum in a post on X: "In the face of Russia's hybrid tactics, Moldova shows that it is independent, it is strong and it wants a European future!"

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe said the voting campaigns had been marred by foreign interference and active disinformation efforts.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said Russia had been actively working to undermine Moldova's election and its European integration.

"Russia did not succeed, as the results demonstrate. Moldovan democracy is strong," Kirby said, but added that he expected Moscow to try to influence the runoff election.

'ONE MORE BATTLE'

The future of the southeast European nation of under 3 million has been in the spotlight since Russia's invasion of neighbouring Ukraine at a time of mounting confrontation between Moscow and the West.

Ties with Moscow have deteriorated as Sandu condemned the invasion and diversified energy supplies away from Russia.

Moldova's twin votes came ahead of next Saturday's closely contested parliamentary election in Georgia, another former Soviet republic that aspires to join the EU, but which Russia sees as part of its historical sphere of influence.

In a speech on Monday, Sandu said "there is still one more battle to fight", urging Moldovans to back her in the runoff for the presidency.

Stoianoglo, who is backed by the traditionally pro-Russian Party of Socialists, has said that, if elected, he will build a "balanced" foreign policy involving ties with the EU, the United States, Russia and China.

He boycotted Sunday's referendum, calling it a ruse to boost Sandu's re-election bid. He challenged Sandu to a televised debate ahead of the runoff.

(Reporting by Tom Balmforth and Alexander Tanas in Chisinau; Additional reporting by Yuliia Dysa in Gdansk, Lidia Kelly in Melbourne and Doina Chiacu in Washington; Editing by Gareth Jones, Alex Richardson and Ros Russell)