Moldova's pro-EU party set to win most votes in election

Andra Timu and Irina Vilcu, Bloomberg News on Sep 28, 2025

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Moldova’s ruling pro-European party was on track to win the most votes in a parliamentary election Sunday that was marred by allegations of wide-spread Russian meddling.

President Maia Sandu’s Action and Solidarity Party was ahead with 45% of the votes, while the pro-Russian Patriotic Electoral Bloc led by former President Igor Dodon was running second with 27.6%, according to partial count from more than 80% of precincts. The Alternativa alliance founded by Chisinau Mayor Ion Ceban was third with 8.8%.

The result, if it holds, would leave Sandu’s party short of a majority it needs to keep the tiny nation of 2.4 million people wedged between Romania and Ukraine on the path toward European Union integration. But the count doesn’t include most of the votes cast by Moldova’s diaspora, which last year helped reelect Sandu for a second term and swung a referendum in favor of enshrining the E.U. entry objective in the constitution.

Moldova has become a bellwether for Russia’s interference and hybrid attacks in Europe, the focus of a tug-of-war as Moscow tries to bring the former Soviet state back into its sphere of influence while Europe counters by promising E.U. membership. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy last week called on world leaders to support Moldova in the face of Russia’s alleged attempts to influence the election.

Moscow has designed a multi-pronged strategy in order to intervene and disrupt Moldova’s election and the country’s European path, Bloomberg reported last week. These tactics include staging disruptive protests and launching disinformation campaigns on social media. Russia has repeatedly said it doesn’t interfere in foreign elections.

Moldovan authorities reported they had successfully detected and neutralized multiple cyberattacks targeting digital infrastructure over the weekend, including the electoral platform and the government’s cloud. The attacks involved DDoS attempts and efforts to inject malicious software at polling stations.

Additionally, several polling stations abroad, including in Brussels, Rome, Bucharest and Spain, received hoax bomb threats, presidential adviser Stanislav Secrieru said in a post on X.

Destabiliziation attempts

Dodon called on his supporters and all the opposition parties to gather in front of the parliament in the capital of Chisinau on Monday to ensure the election was fair. “I want to tell everybody we won’t allow any destabilization attempts,” he said shortly after the polls closed on Sunday.

The E.U. has allocated a record $2.1 billion for the coming years to support Moldova’s integration efforts and has helped Chisinau significantly reduce its energy dependence on Russia. It also sought to bolster Sandu’s image ahead of the ballot, with the leaders of Poland, France and Germany sharing a stage with her at a pro-European rally on Moldova’s Independence Day in August.

Once the result of the election is certified, the president has 30 days to convene parliament. After holding consultations with all the parties in the legislature, she’ll designate a prime minister who’ll seek to win the backing of 51 of the parliament’s 101 members.

If no government is formed within 45 days and after at least two attempts following the first designation, President Sandu may dissolve parliament and call new elections.