Russian interference fears loom over Moldova election

CHISINAU

A woman mops a stage before an electoral rally of Moldova's President Maia Sandu in Magdacesti, Moldova, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, who is seeking a second term in office ahead of a presidential election and a referendum on whether to enshrine in Moldova's Constitution its path to European Union membership taking place on Oct. 20.

Moldova authorities fear that up to a quarter of votes cast in a presidential election and an EU membership referendum on Oct. 20 could be tainted by Russian cash, according to its police chief.

In Orhei, a bastion of fugitive pro-Russian politician Ilan Shor, a party atmosphere reigned last weekend, with a wine festival, folk music and traditional dancing on the central square.

But just before the weekend, police arrested four of the town's municipal employees on suspicion of electoral interference.

The arrests were among a series of raids after police uncovered a massive vote buying scheme in the former Soviet republic neighboring war-torn Ukraine.

Moldova's government has repeatedly warned of Russian interference as pro-EU President Maia Sandu seeks a second term and a "yes" in a referendum on joining the European Union.

Washington this week accused Russia of "working actively to undermine Moldova's election," while the EU issued fresh sanctions on several people.

In what Moldova police chief Viorel Cernauteanu described to AFP as an "unprecedented phenomenon," millions of dollars have been transferred from Russia to corrupt up to 300,000 people, or about a quarter of those expected to vote on Oct. 20 in the country of 2.6 million people in total.

He said suspect bank transfers to 150,000 people had been made. "If we are talking about these people having a family member, that's 300,000. We are talking about a platform of over 25 percent of the voters in the Republic of Moldova," said Cernauteanu.

Police have conducted some 350 raids and arrested hundreds of people over the suspected fraud plans, according to authorities.

In addition, hundreds of young people were found to have been trained in Russia and the Balkans to create "mass disorder" in Moldova, including in tactics to provoke law enforcement, Cernauteanu told reporters at a press conference earlier.

Ahead of Oct. 20's votes, state institutions have been targeted by frequent fake bomb alerts, while red paint has been thrown at government buildings with police saying people recruited in Moscow are behind the vandalism.

Such vandalism "promotes the narrative that the people are dissatisfied, desperate and ready to do anything to express their dissatisfaction with the government," according to Andrei Curararu, an expert with the WatchDog think tank.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said this week that Russia "categorically" rejects accusations of electoral interference.

Shor, a former Orhei mayor who was convicted in absentia of fraud last year, has accused Moldova's government of turning the country into a "police state," urging people to give "a firm no to EU lies and deceit" at the referendum.

Accusing pro-Russian media and activists of disseminating disinformation, authorities have closed scores of outlets and Telegram channels.

In Orhei, some 50 kilometers north of the capital Chisinau and nicknamed "Shorhei" by some, pro-Russian MP Marina Tauber, an associate of Shor, spoke at the wine festival, sending "greetings from our leader Ilan Shor."

Calling Russia Moldova's "strategic partner," she told AFP the EU referendum "can only pass if it is falsified," and slammed "intimidation" of Shor supporters.