BUCHAREST: Moldovan President Maia Sandu warned Tuesday that her country’s democracy faces a “race against time” from what she said was attempts by Russia to influence parliamentary elections this month.
In a speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Sandu said the Sep. 28 vote to choose a new 101-seat legislature would be the “most consequential” election in the European Union-candidate country’s history.
Sandu reiterated long-held allegations that Moscow is conducting a sprawling ” hybrid war ” against Moldova — through disinformation, vote-buying, illicit party funding, and myriad other tactics — to try to undermine the upcoming vote and derail Moldova’s path toward EU membership.
“The Kremlin’s goal is clear: to capture Moldova through the ballot box, to use us against Ukraine, and to turn us into a launchpad for hybrid attacks on the European Union,” Sandu said. “If our democracy cannot be protected, then no democracy in Europe is safe.”
Sandu said the election outcome will determine whether Moldova becomes a stable democracy or whether alleged Russian destabilization pulls Moldova away from Europe. “Today we face an unlimited hybrid war on a scale unseen before the full invasion of Ukraine,” she added.
