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Translated by: Flutura Gashi-Mehmeti
- November 3, 2024 08:52
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Citizens of Moldova vote on Sunday in a presidential runoff that has been overshadowed by allegations of election interference.
Pro-Western incumbent Maia Sandu, who has stepped up the southeast European nation's push to leave Moscow's orbit and join the EU, faces Alexandr Stoianoglo, a former prosecutor general backed by the Socialist Party pro-Russian, reports Reuters.
The fate of Sandu, which put Moldova on the long road to EU accession talks in June, will be closely watched in Brussels a week after Georgia, another former Soviet state hoping to join, re-elected a ruling party. which is seen as increasingly pro-Russian.
Stoianoglo says that as president he too would support EU integration, but would also develop ties with Russia in the national interest. He has vowed to try to revive cheap Russian gas supplies and said he would meet with President Vladimir Putin if Moldovans want it.
The outcome of the vote is expected to set the tone for next summer's parliamentary elections, where Sandu's ruling party is expected to fight to retain its majority.
Stoianoglo's rhetoric of East-West balancing contrasts with Sandu's four years in power, during which ties with the Kremlin have crumbled, scores of Moscow diplomats have been expelled and she has condemned Russia's occupation of neighboring Ukraine.
Moscow has said its government is "Russophobic".
Sandu portrays Stoianoglo as a Kremlin man and a political Trojan horse, describing Sunday's vote as a choice between a bright future in the EU until 2030 and a future of uncertainty and instability.
Stoianoglo says this is untrue and that she has failed to look after the interests of ordinary Moldovans.
He accuses Sandu of divisive politics in a country that has a Romanian-speaking majority and a large Russian-speaking minority.
