Moldovans are voting in the decisive round of the presidential elections. But voter fraud threatens democracy

KIZYNAV, Moldova (AP) — Moldovan historian and politician Oktavian Ticu remembers the times of the Soviet Union it collapsed in the early 1990s. It was a shocking event that enabled him to become one of the first amateur boxers to fight for his country at the pinnacle of his sport: the Olympic Games.

“It was a happy moment for me,” recalls the 52-year-old, clenching his fists in a boxing gym in the capital, Chisinau. “In 1996, I took part in the Olympic Games in Atlanta. (…) If I had been in the Soviet Union, I would never have done it.”

But today, more than thirty years after the declaration of independence, Moldova is Russia’s target in a hybrid war of propaganda and disinformation that is “wreaking havoc,” Ticu, who competed in the lightweight division, told The Associated Press.

Like Ukraine and Georgia, the former Soviet republic aspires to join the EU European Union but it is caught in a constant geopolitical conflict between Moscow and the West.

“Russian propaganda is the reality of 30 years of independence,” added Ticu, who has written several books on the history of his country.

____

This story, supported by the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting, is part of an ongoing Associated Press series on threats to democracy in Europe.

____

In the national referendum held on October 20, Moldovans voted with a narrow majority of 50.35% in favor of securing the path to EU membership. But the result was overshadowed by allegations of a Moscow-backed vote-buying program.

In presidential elections were held on the same dayincumbent pro-Western president Maia Sandu received 42% of the vote but failed to win an outright majority. On Sunday, he will face Alexander Stoianoglo, the Russia-friendly former attorney general, again in a second round seen as a choice between geopolitical opposites.

As with the EU referendum, a poll released this week by polling firm iData shows a tight race on Sunday, with the leaning toward a narrow victory for Sandu, with Moldova’s large diaspora likely to depend on the outcome.

The role of president comes with significant powers in areas such as foreign policy and national security.

Following the two October votes, Moldovan law enforcement concluded that the vote-buying scheme was organized by Ilan Shor, an exiled oligarch who now lives in Russia and was sentenced in absentia in 2023 fraud and money laundering. Prosecutors say a Russian bank under international sanctions paid $39 million to more than 130,000 voter recipients between September and October. Shor denies any wrongdoing.

“People who go to Moscow, Ilan Shor’s so-called government-in-exile, who come with very large sums of money, are left at large,” said Ticu, who ran as a long-term candidate in the presidential race.

“It was obvious,” Ticu added, that the votes “would not be fair and democratic.” Of the 11 candidates in the first round, he was the only one to support Sandu in the second round.

Voters in the Kremlin-friendly separatist region of Transnistria, which declared independence after a brief war in the early 1990s, can cast ballots in Moldova itself. Transnistria was a source of tension during the war in neighboring Ukraine, especially since there is a military base there where 1,500 Russian soldiers are stationed.

Ticu warned that if Russian troops in Ukraine reach port city of Odessathey could “join the Transnistria region and then the Republic of Moldova will be occupied.”

In Gagauzia, an autonomous part of Moldova where only 5% voted for the EU, a doctor was detained after allegedly forcing 25 residents of a care home for the elderly to vote for a candidate of their choice. Police said they obtained “conclusive evidence” including financial transfers from the same sanctioned Russian bank.

In an attempt to crack down on corruption, anti-corruption authorities carried out hundreds of searches and seized more than $2.7 million (€2.5 million) in cash.

On Thursday, prosecutors raided the headquarters of a political party and found that 12 people were suspected of paying voters to choose a candidate in the presidential race. A criminal case was also initiated in which 40 employees of state agencies are suspected of accepting electoral bribes.

Instead of winning the overwhelming support Sandu had hoped for, the results in both races showed that the Moldovan justice system is unable to adequately protect citizens democratic process. This also allowed part of the pro-Moscow opposition to question the validity of the votes.

Igor Dodon, leader of the Socialist Party and former president with close ties to Russia, said this week that “we do not recognize” the referendum result and called Sandu a “dictator in a skirt” who will “do whatever it takes to stay in power.”