BerlinThe Moldovans have rejected this Sunday in a referendum to change the country’s Constitution to shield the aspirations of joining the European Union, according to the partial results. Maia Sandu, outgoing president and liberal and pro-European candidate, won the presidential election, but did not get the majority of votes, so there would be a second round.
“Do you support the amendment of the Constitution with a view to the accession of the Republic of Moldova to the European Union?” was the question of the historic referendum organized yesterday in this former Soviet republic, coinciding with the holding of presidential elections.Participation exceeded 51.4%, according to official data.
56.5% of Moldovans would have chosen the box of no to modify its Magna Carta and 43.5% that of Yeah after the scrutiny of half of the votes cast, as reported by the IPN press agency. The Central Electoral Commission declared the referendum valid; that’s why a third participation in the popular consultation was needed.
If it confirms the triomf of the noMoldova, neighboring country of Ukraine and Romania, will not include in the preamble of its Constitution the aspiration of its inhabitants to be part of the European Union. Chisinau had set itself the goal of entering the community club by 2030.
The referendum on the European Union confirms the division of Moldovans into pro-Europeans and pro-Russians. It remains to be seen whether the outcome will exacerbate tensions between pro-Western leaders and the Transnistria region, ruled by pro-Russian separatists. There are currently 2,000 Russian soldiers in this region, located on Moldova’s eastern border with Ukraine, to provide “protection” to its inhabitants against what Moscow and pro-Russian separatists consider an economic stranglehold on the Moldovan government.
The popular consultation had been called by Sandu, who was running for re-election after four years in power. His two main rivals in the presidential elections – former Attorney General Alexandr Stoianoglu and independent politician Renato Usatyi, leader of El Nostre Partit – refused to participate in the European referendum.
Stoianoglu, a candidate who has the support of the Kremlin, explained that he had not voted in the referendum on joining the European Union as a “sign of protest” against the Sandu government’s desire to change the Moldovan Constitution. Usatyi, at the close of the election campaign, reported that senior Russian officials asked him to leave the presidential race and support Stoianoglu, the candidate from Moscow.
Although the eyes of Brussels and the rest of the European capitals were on the constitutional referendum yesterday, Moldovans also voted in the presidential elections. Eleven candidates appeared in the elections. Sandu, in power since 2020, started as the favorite in the presidential race. The pro-European candidate would have obtained, in the first round, 35% of the votes, followed by Stoianoglu and Usatyi, with 29% and 15% of support respectively, with half of the votes counted. In fourth place would be Irina Vlah, the independent candidate and former governor of Gagauzia, with 5.8% of the vote. It doesn’t seem that any candidate should exceed 50% of the vote, so it is most likely that a second round should be held on November 3rd.
Tensions due to Russian interference
The electoral campaign has been held amid tensions over Russian interference and calls by Moldovan pro-Russians to boycott the pro-European referendum. Chisinau accuses Moscow of having carried out disinformation campaigns, cyberattacks and vote-buying to influence the elections and the pro-European referendum.
According to the Moldovan police, around 130,000 voters were bought through accounts in a Russian bank to vote against their country’s entry into the community club. Moscow is not prepared to lose its sphere of influence and opposes the entry of this ex-Soviet republic into NATO and the EU. Chisinau has shown its support to Kyiv in the war in Ukraine.
During election day, the website of the pro-Russian Renaissance party, linked to the pro-Russian oligarch Ilan Șhor, was hacked. “We no longer share Șhor’s views,” said the message from the hackersas reported by the IPN news agency.
Moldova, one of the poorest countries in the Old Continent, applied to join the European Union in March 2022, a month after the start of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, and was granted the status of a candidate country in the EU in June of that year. In December 2023, Brussels opened accession negotiations with Moldova, which gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
The large Moldovan diaspora has also participated in this double electoral date. The Central Electoral Commission opened 2,221 polling stations, of which 1,957 were in Moldova and 234 abroad; Italy is the country with the most voting centers, followed by Germany, France and the United Kingdom.
