Moldovan prime minister accuses Russia of using country's election to 'take power'

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CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — Moldova’s Prime Minister Dorin Recean warned on Wednesday that Russia is spending hundreds of millions of euros to “take power” in a pivotal parliamentary election that could derail the country’s course toward the European Union.

Recean’s remarks came days before the election on Sunday, when Moldovans will vote to choose a new 101-seat legislature in a ballot many view as a stark choice between East and West.

“The Republic of Moldova is in an electoral campaign. The Russian Federation is also in an electoral campaign,” he said in an address after a government session. “It’s just that we are campaigning in our country, and the Russian Federation wants to campaign not in its own country, but in our country.”

Recean accused the Kremlin of trying “to take power in Chisinau, violating the sovereign will” of Moldovans.

“This is not an ordinary electoral battle,” he said. “It is a siege on our country.”

Recean outlined several ways Russia is allegedly trying to take control of Moldova and diminish support for the pro-European governing Party of Action and Solidarity, or PAS. The party won a clear majority in the 2021 parliamentary election but risks losing it on Sunday, with no other viable pro-European alternatives on the ballot.

They included allegedly orchestrating a large-scale vote-buying scheme, conducting more than 1,000 cyberattacks on critical government infrastructure so far this year, a plan to incite riots around Sunday’s election, and a sprawling disinformation campaign online to sway voters.

Moscow has repeatedly denied meddling in Moldova. Recean's remarks also came a day after Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service alleged that European politicians were attempting to ensure Moldova stayed in line with its own “Russophobic policies.”

Moldova’s westward geopolitical shift in recent years has irked Moscow and tensions between the two countries have significantly soured. Moldova was a Soviet republic until it proclaimed independence in 1991.

In the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Moldova applied to join the EU and was granted candidate status that year. Brussels agreed to open accession negotiations last year.

Since then, Moldovan authorities have accused Russia of conducting a hybrid war to try to derail the country’s EU path by meddling in elections, illicitly funding pro-Russian parties and running vast disinformation campaigns to voters ahead of elections.

Last year, Moldovans voted narrowly in favor of securing the country’s EU path in a referendum, the same day a presidential election was held, which secured pro-Western President Maia Sandu a second term. But those two votes were also overshadowed by widespread claims of Russian interference, which Moscow denied.

A key figure in the alleged campaign to destabilize Moldova is fugitive pro-Russian oligarch Ilan Shor, who was convicted in 2023 of fraud and money laundering in a case of $1 billion that went missing from Moldovan banks in 2014.

“There is evidence, including wiretaps, that proves that vote buying is financed by the Russian Federation,” Recean said. “The instrument is the Shor criminal group, and the beneficiaries are several electoral competitors.”

Ahead of the election, Moldovan authorities have carried out hundreds of searches and detained dozens of suspects.

This week alone, 74 people were detained during 250 raids as part of an investigation into an alleged Russia-backed plan to incite mass riots and destabilize the country. One was detained over the financing of a political party allegedly linked to Russia through cryptocurrencies.

“The increasing evidence of Russia’s subversive actions is increasing concern in society. I assure you of one thing: the state of the Republic of Moldova is resisting,” Recean said. “We are not just resisting, but we are retaliating firmly and we will thwart the Russian occupation plan.”

"Dear citizens, the final battle is being fought for the future of our country," he added. "And I urge you all to participate with an honest vote.”

At a rally on Wednesday organized by the Russia-friendly opposition Patriotic Electoral Bloc, or BEP, in the center of Moldova’s capital, Chisinau, dozens chanted “down with PAS,” and “Down with Maia Sandu,” referring to Moldova's pro-Western president.

The BEP is comprised of a group of political parties and has campaigned on promising good relations with the EU and “normalizing” ties with Russia. It has used Moldova-first rhetoric, such as defending the national interest by supporting local agriculture and protecting jobs.

Wednesday's event was billed a “peace rally.”

One placard read: “PAS in the last 4 years: not a word about peace.”

Nichita Romenschi, a 22-year-old candidate on Sunday’s ballot for the BEP, told The Associated Press that his party would work for “sovereignty and independence” for Moldova.

“Neutrality is the guarantee of security for us,” Romenschi said. “Moldova must have good relations with everybody … with the EU and Russia. We want the government to have a humane face and the policies to be directed toward the quality of simple people.”

Grigore Novac, a member of parliament for the Party of Socialists, said that “absolutely no one should intervene in the electoral process” in Moldova.

“No one from Russia came here in Moldova to … deliver some kind of messages, whereas from European structures we saw a suite of them,” Grigore said. “This shows that there is an interference in the electoral campaign from them, and this is forbidden by electoral laws.”

Last month, the leaders of France, Germany, and Poland traveled to Moldova in a show of support to mark the country’s 34 years of independence from the Soviet Union.