Moldova's pro-EU party defeats pro-Russian rivals in election

Moldovans gave the country’s pro-Western governing party a clear parliamentary majority in a weekend election, defeating pro-Russian groups in a vote widely viewed as a stark choice between East and West.

- STEPHEN MCGRATH

VADIM GHIRDA Associated Press VASILE CHIRIAC, right, shouts slogans at a pro-EU rally in Chisinau, Moldova.

European leaders on Monday hailed Moldovans for reaffirming their commitment to a Western path and future membership in the European Union in the face ofalleged Russian interference. The country is small in size and population but with outsize geopolitical importance.

“You made your choice clear: Europe. Democracy. Freedom,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a post on X. “No attempt to sow fear or division could break your resolve.”

Moldova is landlocked between war-torn Ukraine and Romania, a member of the EU and North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Formerly a Soviet republic, Moldova proclaimed independence in 1991. Inrecent years it has taken a clear Westward path, turning the country into a geopolitical battleground between Russia and Europe.

The outcome of Sunday's high-stakes ballot was noteworthy considering Moldovan authorities’ repeated claims that Russia was conducting a vast “hybrid war” to try to sway the outcome and seize power in Chisinau. Moldova applied to join the EU in 2022 in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and was granted candidate status that year. Brussels agreed to open accession negotiations last year.

With nearly all polling station reports counted Monday, electoral data showed the pro-EU Party of Action and Solidarity securing 50.1% of the vote, while the pro-Russian Patriotic Electoral Bloc won 24.2%. The Russia-friendly Alternativa Bloc came third, followed by the populist Our Party. The right-wing Democracy at Home party also won enough votes to enter Parliament.

The tense ballot Sunday pitted the governing PAS against several Russia-friendly opponents but no viable pro-European partners. Electoral data indicate the party will hold a clear majority of about 55 of the 101 seats in the legislature.