The small country of 2.6 million between Ukraine and Romania has been under heavy pressure from Russia. More than half voted for the party that is committed to closer ties with Western Europe.
It is a country of only 2.4 million inhabitants, militarily fragile and often expressing its fear of being invaded by Russia. But the elections on Sunday 28 September show that there is a majority desire to maintain its ‘freedom’, as expressed by the winning party in the parliamentary elections, the Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS).
With 50.5% of the vote, the party of Moldova's president, Maia Sandu, clearly defeated the nationalist and pro-Russian Patriotic Electoral Bloc (PEB), which received 24.2% of the vote.
The authorities have denounced pro-Russian interference during the election campaign. According to the media, there were bomb threats at some polling stations, including those for Moldovans abroad, such as in Romania, Italy and Spain. The police also arrested a dozen people for attempting to buy votes.
Although voter turnout was higher than in previous elections (52%), the Russian government claimed that "hundreds of thousands of Moldovans were not allowed to vote", raising doubts about electoral fraud, an idea also promoted on social media by some opposition forces. Despite the gap in the official count, the opposition PEB claimed to have won the election and called for protests the following day in Chisinau, which ended up having little support.
Leaders from neighbouring countries congratulated Moldova on the result. "These elections showed that Russia's destabilising activity loses, while Moldova in Europe wins", said Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk added that "democracy has been saved" and "Russia has been stopped in its attempts to take control over the whole region. A good lesson for us all".
Moldova is experiencing a great deal of tension due to the war in neighbouring Ukraine and veiled Russian threats of an invasion of its territory. There is also concern about corruption within the country itself and the difficult economic situation in an environment of constantly rising prices.
In 2022, Moldova officially became a candidate for entry into the European Union, at the same time as Ukraine.
Evangelical Focus has contacted evangelical Christians in the country to find out their views on the situation in the country.
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