Sarah RainsfordSouthern and eastern Europe correspondent in Chisinau
EPA
Prime Minister of Moldova Dorin Recean attends the march on Friday ahead of Sunday’s election.
The crowd filing through central Chisinau waving EU flags on Friday evening was clear: they believe Russia is trying to steal their election and bring pro-Kremlin politicians to power in Moldova.
“Their weapon is money, your weapon is your vote!”, was the loudest chant as several hundred supporters of the governing party, PAS, and its pro-European policies joined the final rally before Sunday’s ballot.
This week Moldovan police and prosecutors disclosed evidence of election interference on an unprecedented scale: vote-buying and disinformation that they link directly to Russia. They’ve also uncovered a plot to foment violent unrest, detaining dozens of men who travelled to Serbia for training including in the use of firearms.
Opposition parties dismiss talk of Russian meddling as a “political show” claiming the government is laying the ground to annul the vote should PAS lose its majority in parliament.
But Moldova took a decisive turn towards EU membership and away from Moscow after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Now the evidence suggests Russia has been investing heavily in restoring its influence.
It’s trying to claw back control.
Protesters gathered on Friday for a final rally before Sunday’s ballot.
Final battle?
Lodged between Romania and Ukraine, Moldova has been independent since the USSR fell apart more than three decades ago. Last summer, it launched EU accession talks in tandem with Ukraine.
Prime Minister Dorin Recean sees these elections as a “final battle” for his country.
“There is constant pressure from Russia,” he told me, as the pro-PAS crowd broke up after its brief march through Chisinau.
“They’re spending the equivalent of more than 1% of our GDP to overthrow our government – on propaganda and false messages.”
Some of that fake-news network – posting anti PAS content for cash – was uncovered in a recent BBC investigation.
It’s linked to Ilan Sor, a fugitive Moldovan oligarch now in Moscow.
In response to the BBC investigation, the Russian embassy in the UK denied involvement in fake news and electoral interference and claimed that it was the EU that had been interfering in Moldova’s election.
All this is happening as Russia’s bombardment of Ukraine escalates and with Moscow accused of ever more hostile activity elsewhere in Europe, like sending drones into Poland.
So PAS is trying to mobilise voters by driving home the danger.
Its bright yellow election flyers are full of promises that the party guarantees EU membership “in the next four years” along with a bounty of European investment and maximum respect in the world.
But the flip side of the paper is dark and disturbing. There’s an image of Ukrainian homes destroyed by war and a warning not to “hand our country over to Russia”.
Then come the faces of Moldova’s opposition leaders and the slogan: “Say no to Putin’s candidates.”
“This is exactly the risk right now here in Moldova,” the prime minister says, justifying using such scare tactics.
The choice for Moldovans
Beyond the shabby Soviet-era blocks of Chisinau city suburbs, a short drive leads to field upon field lined with grape vines. It’s like a mini Tuscany with a lot more potholes.
In Cricova, with the sun beginning to slide, women ch
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