Friday, November 22, 2024

Pro-EU president faces off against ‘Russian Trojan horse’ in Moldovan election

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Moldovans voted on Sunday in a presidential election that pitted the country’s pro-EU incumbent against a former state prosecutor described as a “Russian Trojan horse”.

Government officials have accused the Kremlin of trying to fix the vote in favour of Alexandr Stoianoglo, who analysts have warned could unseat Maia Sandu as president.

“We’re seeing massive interference by Russia in our electoral process as Moldovans vote in the presidential run-off today, an effort with high potential to distort the outcome,” said Stanislav Secrieru, Ms Sandu’s national security adviser.

The allegations have been supported by photographs from Baku, Istanbul and Minsk, where observers said that Russia had flown in planeloads of pro-Kremlin Moldovans to vote.

There are only two polling stations in Russia, where roughly 500,000 Moldovans live, and both are in Moscow.

A Moldovan source, who asked not to be identified, also said that polling stations in Europe, the US and Britain could be targeted by Moscow with bomb hoaxes.

“The goal is to interrupt the voting process during the [bomb threat] evacuation and check by the police,” the Moldovan official told one of their European counterparts, according to Reuters.

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