Pro-EU incumbent Maia Sandu re-elected to second term as president of Moldova

Moldova's pro-Western incumbent president Maia Sandu has won a second term in a pivotal presidential runoff against a Russia-friendly opponent, in a race overshadowed by claims of Russian interference, voter fraud and intimidation.

With more than 99% of votes counted in the second round, Sandu had 55.03% of the vote, according to the Central Electoral Commission.

Her competitor, the former prosecutor general Alexandr Stoianoglo, was polling at just under 45%.

Speaking at the headquarters of her Action and Solidarity party in the capital Chișinău, Sandu struck a conciliatory tone and said she had listened to those who had voted both for and against her, adding that her priority in the coming years would be to be a president for all Moldovans.

But she went on to claim that her country's vote had faced an "unprecedented attack" through alleged schemes including dirty money, vote-buying and electoral interference "by hostile forces from outside the country."

"You have shown that nothing can stand in the way of the people's power when they choose to speak through their vote," she said.

When polls closed locally at 9pm local time, turnout stood at more than 1.68 million people, around 54% of eligible voters, according to the Central Election Commission.

Moldova's large diaspora, which cast ballots in record numbers of more than 325,000, voted heavily in favour of Sandu.

In the first round, which was held on 20 October, Sandu took 42% of the vote but failed to win an outright majority over second place Stoianoglo.

Moldova's presidential role carries significant powers in areas such as foreign policy and national security and has a four-year term.

Allegations of interference

On Sunday, Moldovan police said they had "reasonable evidence" of organised transportation of voters, illegal under the country's electoral code, to polling stations from within the country and from overseas and are "investigating and registering evidence in connection with air transport activities from Russia to Belarus, Azerbaijan and Turkey."

"Such measures are taken to protect the integrity of the electoral process and to ensure that every citizen’s vote is cast freely without undue pressure or influence," police said.

Moldova's foreign ministry said on Sunday afternoon that polling stations in Frankfurt, Germany, and Liverpool and Northampton in the UK had been targeted by false bomb threats, which "intended only to stop the voting process."

Stanislav Secrieru, the president's national security adviser, wrote on X: "We are seeing massive interference by Russia in our electoral process,” which he warned had a “high potential to distort the outcome" of the vote.

Secrieru later added that the national voter record systems were being targeted by "ongoing coordinated cyberattacks" to disrupt links between domestic polling stations and those abroad, and that cybersecurity teams were "working to counter these threats and ensure system continuity."

Moldova's Prime Minister Dorin Recean said that people throughout the country had received “anonymous death threats via phone calls” in what he called "an extreme attack" to scare voters in the former Soviet republic, which has a population of about 2.5 million people. 

Vote-buying scheme

Moldovans voted twice on 20 October; first for the president and second in a referendum on whether to enshrine the aim of EU membership in the country’s constitution.

That passed with a razor-thin majority of 50.35%, given a boost in the final hours of ballot counting by overseas voters.

In the wake of those October votes, Moldovan law enforcement said that a vote-buying scheme was orchestrated by Ilan Shor, an exiled oligarch who lives in Russia and was convicted in absentia last year of fraud and money laundering.

Shor denies any wrongdoing.

Prosecutors allege that $39 million (€35 million) was paid to more than 130,000 recipients through an internationally sanctioned Russian bank to voters between September and October.

Anti-corruption authorities have conducted hundreds of searches and seized over $2.7 million (€2.5 million) in cash as they attempt to crack down.

In one case in Gagauzia, an autonomous part of Moldova where only 5% voted in favour of joining the EU, a physician was detained after allegedly coercing 25 residents of a home for older adults to vote for a candidate they did not choose.

Police said they obtained "conclusive evidence", including financial transfers from the same Russian bank.

Moldova's EU future

A pro-Western government has been in power in Moldova since 2021 and parliamentary elections are set to take place next year.

Moldova watchers warn that the 2025 vote could be Moscow's main target.

In the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Moldova applied to join the EU. It was granted candidate status in June of that year, and in summer 2024, Brussels agreed to start membership negotiations.

The sharp westward shift irked Moscow and significantly soured relations with Chișinău.

Since then, Moldovan authorities have repeatedly accused Russia of waging a vast "hybrid war", from sprawling disinformation campaigns to protests by pro-Russia parties to vote-buying schemes that undermine countrywide elections.

Russia has denied any meddling.