Joining the EU is ‘matter of survival’, says Moldovan president

Moldovan President Maia Sandu has described EU accession as a "matter of survival" for the central European state and said the Eastern European country is in a "race against time" as it heads for critical parliamentary elections, warning of Russian interference and influence.

Sandu was addressing the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday, three weeks ahead of a 28 September poll that she described as “the most consequential” in the history of the country and “a final battle” on the country's road to EU membership.

Sandu’s pro-European Party of Action and Solidarity's (PAS) appeal has dipped significantly compared to the last elections in 2021. It could be outvoted by the main opposition group, the Patriotic Bloc (PSRM), a union of four parties widely considered very close to Russia.

“[This election’s] outcome will decide whether we consolidate as a stable democracy on the path to EU membership [...] or whether Russia destabilises us, pulls us away from Europe,” Sandu told the Parliament.

Moldova has been a candidate for EU membership since 2022, and negotiations were formally opened in June 2024. Sandu considers the accession “a race against time” to protect the country from Russia, which she described as “the greatest threat we face”.

But this path was put in doubt last October, when a referendum to enshrine EU accession in the Moldovan constitution won by a very slender majority.

Despite winning, the pro-EU camp was left dispirited, and Sandu alleged vote-buying and Russian interference.

A year on, she is accusing the Kremlin of the same illicit interference. “Russia has unleashed its full arsenal of hybrid attacks against us. The battlefield is our elections,” she told the MEPs in Strasbourg.

In order to “capture Moldova through the ballot box”, Russians are using several tactics, from illicit financing poured in through crypto and prepaid cards to cyberattacks, manipulation of social media, and even a vote-buying scheme, she claimed. “Fake emails in the names of state institutions, deepfakes of politicians, fabricated sites posing as impartial news but serving Kremlin propaganda,” were also being deployed, Sandu alleged.

“Our institutions estimate that, over the course of the year, Russia spent the equivalent of 1% of Moldova’s GDP to influence the 2024 elections,” she said.

Sandu claimed that Moldovan crime gangs are being recruited for sabotage and intimidation, and Moldovans abroad are also targeted with online campaigns and discouraged from voting. “Last year, fourteen polling stations across EU countries received hoax bomb threats to disrupt the vote,” she alleged.

Moldova’s president warned the Parliament that her country may be a “testing ground”, while “Europe is the target” for Russian interference and hybrid warfare. “The Kremlin’s goal is clear: turn us into a launchpad for hybrid attacks on the European Union," she claimed.

Russia's embassy in Brussels has been approached for comment.