Moldovans are heading to the polls to cast ballots in a tense parliamentary election plagued by claims of Russian interference, a vote seen as a choice between integration with the European Union or a drift back into Moscow’s fold.

Sunday’s (September 28, 2025) pivotal vote will elect a new 101-seat parliament, after which Moldova’s president nominates a prime minister, generally from the leading party or bloc, which can then try to form a new government. A proposed government then needs parliamentary approval.

Polls opened at 7 a.m. (0400 GMT) and will close at 9 p.m. (1800 GMT). The Central Electoral Commission reported more than 400,000 people, or about 14% of eligible voters, had cast ballots by 11 a.m.

Pro-Western and pro-Russian parties slug it out

The tense race pits the governing pro-Western Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS), which has held a strong parliamentary majority since 2021 but risks losing it, against several Russia-friendly opponents but no viable pro-European partners, leaving uncertainty over potential outcomes and the geopolitical course the country will take.

After casting her ballot, Moldova’s pro-Western President Maia Sandu reiterated long-held claims that Russia “massively interfered” in the election, saying she voted “to keep the peace” and that her country’s future lies within the EU.

“Russia poses a danger to our democracies. Our democracy is young and fragile, but that does not mean that states with longer democracies are not in danger. We want to live in a democracy,” she said. “Today, in our country, democracy is in the hands of Moldovans — only they can save the Republic of Moldova,” she added.

Moldova is landlocked between Ukraine and European Union member Romania. The country of about 2.5 million people has spent recent years on a westward path and gained candidate status to the EU in 2022, shortly after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Fears of Russian interference

Days before Sunday’s (September 28, 2025) vote, Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean warned that Russia is spending “hundreds of millions” of euros as part of an alleged “hybrid war” to try to seize power, which he described as “the final battle for our country’s future.”

“I call on every Moldovan at home and across Europe: We cannot change what Russia does, but we can change what we do as a people,” he said. “Turn worry into mobilisation and thoughtful action … Help stop their schemes,” he added.

The alleged Russian strategies include a large-scale vote-buying operation, cyberattacks on critical government infrastructure, a plan to incite mass riots around the election, and a sprawling disinformation campaign online to diminish support for the pro-European ruling party and sway voters towards Moscow-friendly ones.

Russia has repeatedly denied meddling in Moldova and dismissed the allegations last week as “anti-Russian” and “unsubstantiated.”

Authorities have warned that Moldova’s election day could be targeted by false bomb threats, cyberattacks, temporary power outages, and street violence by trained individuals. In a crackdown before the vote, law enforcement officers have carried out hundreds of raids, in which scores have been detained.

“The state is doing everything to ensure that people are safe and the vote is protected,” Ms. Sandu said after voting Sunday (September 28, 2025).

The importance of diaspora voters

Moldova’s large diaspora is expected to play a decisive role in Sunday’s (September 28, 2025) outcome. In last year’s presidential run-off — which was also viewed as a choice between East and West — a record number of 327,000 voters cast ballots abroad, more than 82% of whom favoured Ms. Sandu, and ultimately secured her re-election.

A key opponent of PAS in Sunday’s (September 28, 2025) election is the pro-Russian Patriotic Electoral Bloc, a group of political parties that wants “friendship with Russia,” and “permanent neutrality.” Others include the populist Our Party, which wants “balanced foreign policy” between East and West, and the Alternativa Bloc, which claims to be pro-European but critics say would seek closer ties to Moscow.

Igor Dodon, a former president and a member of the Patriotic Electoral Bloc, said Sunday’s (September 28, 2025) election “is the day when the people are not afraid, but others are afraid of the people.”

“We go out and vote. We choose a country where people’s fear will disappear,” he said. “We choose a normal life for citizens — we believe in Moldova,” he added.

In recent years, as the country has lurched from crisis to crisis, Moldovans have faced rampant inflation, instability from the war next door, increasing costs of living and high poverty rates, which may have diminished support for the pro-European ruling party, which Ms. Sandu founded in 2016.

Most local polls indicate that PAS will win the most votes, but they don’t include Moldova’s large diaspora, and about a third of voters remain undecided. In the 2021 parliamentary election, turnout was just over 48%.

Iulian Groza, executive director of the Institute for European Policies and Reforms think tank, says the higher the turnout, the more likely it is that PAS can secure a majority.

“Any party in government has a tendency to erode in public support, and in the last four years, Moldova has experienced multiple crises,” he said. “After four years … despite various crises we had, I think we can say very clearly that Moldova resisted in the face of this Russian aggression.”

Published – September 28, 2025 11:31 pm IST

A poster of Moldova’s President Maia Sandu that reads “I invite you to vote” is placed on the side of the road in Magdacesti, Moldova, on October 17, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Moldovans vote on Sunday (October 20, 2024) in a Presidential election and EU referendum at a pivotal moment that could bolster the small agricultural economy’s drive to join the European Union, after allegations of Russian election meddling.

As the war in Ukraine rages to the east and turns the political and diplomatic spotlight on the former Soviet republic, it has accelerated its push to escape Moscow’s orbit and embarked on the long process of EU accession talks.

Also read | Ukrainian and Moldovan entry could destabilise EU: Russia

Polls show pro-Western incumbent Maia Sandu has a comfortable lead over her 10 rivals on the ballot, though the race will go to a Nov. 3 run-off if she fails to reach the 50% threshold to win outright.

Polls show she is likely to face Alexandr Stoianoglo, a former prosecutor-general backed by the traditionally pro-Russian Party of Socialists, if the vote goes to a second round.

Sandu hopes to see a resounding “yes” at the referendum, which will decide whether to insert a clause into the constitution defining EU accession as a goal.

“Our fate is decided on Sunday. Everyone’s vote matters, no matter where we are,” she wrote on Facebook on Friday.

Polls show a majority support joining the 27-nation bloc, though five of the candidates have told their supporters to vote “No” or boycott, saying the timing of the referendum is a ruse to boost Sandu’s haul at the election.

The referendum needs a turnout of at least a third of the people listed on electoral rolls for it to be deemed valid, even though the lists have not been updated in years despite many people emigrating.

A weak outcome for Sandu would set the tone for next summer’s parliamentary elections, where political analysts say her PAS party will face a challenge to retain its majority.

Flanked by Romania and Ukraine, the nation of under 3 million people has alternated between pro-Western and pro-Russian courses since the 1991 Soviet breakup.

Ties with Moscow have deteriorated since Sandu came to power in December 2020. Her government has condemned Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, accused Russia of plotting her overthrow and diversified energy supply after Russia reduced gas supplies.

ALLEGED MEDDLING

The campaign has been overshadowed by election-meddling allegations.

The police have accused Ilan Shor, a fugitive tycoon who lives in Russia, of trying to pay off a network of at least 130,000 voters to vote “No” and back a specific candidate.

Shor, who was jailed in absentia for fraud and theft and is under western sanctions, has openly offered to pay Moldovans to persuade others to vote “No” and back “our candidate”. He denies wrongdoing and says the money is his.

In the run-up to the vote, state radio in Chisinau has run adverts telling people not to vote for money and asking them to report any such offers to the authorities.

On Thursday, law-enforcement agencies said they had uncovered a programme in which hundreds of people were taken to Russia to undergo training to stage riots and civil unrest.

Russia denies interfering in Moldova and has long accused its government of “Russophobia”.

Police chief Viorel Cernauteanu told Reuters on Saturday there had been a slew of voice and text messages sent from abroad in recent days, telling Moldovans to either boycott the referendum or to vote “No”.

He said the police had done everything to prevent any impact on the vote.

“There will be some kind of impact in any case, but I think it will not influence the votes overall.”