Moldovans Head to Polls for Pivotal Parliamentary Vote

(MENAFN) Moldovans started casting their ballots Sunday in a pivotal parliamentary election that will determine the country's political landscape and influence its trajectory toward European Union membership.

Voting opened at 7 a.m. local time (0400 GMT) across 2,274 polling stations, including 1,973 inside Moldova, and will close at 9 p.m. local time (1800 GMT).

“Over 3.6 million ballots were printed for these elections, of which 865 thousand were distributed to polling stations outside the country,” the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Moldova confirmed.

The CEC also announced that more than 3,400 observers are overseeing the election, including 912 international monitors.

President Maia Sandu’s ruling Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS), which has held a parliamentary majority since 2021, faces stiff competition from several pro-Russian opposition alliances positioning themselves as credible challengers.

Key contenders include the Patriotic bloc, led by former President Igor Dodon, and the Alternative bloc, which features Chisinau Mayor Ion Ceban and ex-presidential candidate Alexandr Stoianoglo among its prominent figures.

Earlier this month, Sandu described the election in a speech to the European Parliament as the “most consequential” since Moldova’s independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, highlighting the vote’s critical role in shaping the nation’s geopolitical direction.

Since 2021, Sandu and PAS have steered Moldova closer to the EU, securing candidate status alongside Ukraine in 2022 and initiating accession negotiations set for June 2024. A referendum held in October last year narrowly enshrined EU membership into Moldova’s constitution.

The election campaign has been overshadowed by allegations of Russian interference. Sandu warned in July that Russia is “investing in multiple political vehicles” to sway parliamentary influence. Moscow has denied these accusations, accusing Moldovan authorities of “dividing citizens” by reducing polling locations in Russia while expanding them across Europe.

Further escalating tensions, Russia has accused the EU and NATO of plans to “occupy Moldova” and intimidate Transnistria, the pro-Russian separatist-controlled region that broke away from Moldova in the early 1990s.

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