Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova's answer to a media question about parliamentary elections in Moldova
29 September 2025 20:15
1618-29-09-2025
Question: Moldova held parliamentary elections on September 28. The Moldovan Central Election Commission says the ruling Party of Action and Solidarity won. How does the Foreign Ministry assess the election outcomes?
Maria Zakharova: The election campaign was assessed as unprecedentedly dirty and politicised in Moldova itself. It was marked by massive use by the authorities of administrative and coercive resources, all kinds of extra-legal mechanisms, blackmail, and threats. Political analysts describe it as a "theatre of the absurd," a "cheap spectacle," and an "operetta-like show."
To remain in power, the current regime effectively used barbaric medieval methods to intimidate its opponents; it removed competitors, shut down independent media, blocked voting by opposition-minded voters, and obstructed impartial observation of the elections, including the work of international observers.
The opponents of the regime were arrested, their offices and homes were searched, and criminal cases were opened against undesirable individuals. Opposition parties and movements were massively disqualified from the election race. On July 19, the Victory bloc was denied registration, and in August registration of the four parties that were part of it was likewise denied. On September 26, the Heart of Moldova Party, which was part of the Patriotic Electoral Bloc, was blocked from the elections. On September 28, the day of voting, the Great Moldova Party suffered the same fate, and the votes cast for it were declared invalid. Numerous supporters of these political formations were pushed to the margins of the electoral process.
During their numerous visits to Chisinau in the run-up to the elections, European politicians and officials openly campaigned for the Party of Action and Solidarity, linking its victory to continued flow of money to the republic. This is a case of blatant financial blackmail of Moldovan voters and egregious interference in Moldova's internal affairs from Brussels, which likes to lecture others on democracy, but uses totalitarian methods in real life.
At the same time, the country's authorities cynically accused Russia - not the EU - of interfering in Moldova's political processes, spreading insinuations about a non-existent "Russian threat." On September 23, official Chisinau inexplicably refused accreditation to all short-term observers from Russia who were part of the OSCE/ODIHR mission. The same was done with regard to observers from the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation. Both actions grossly violate Moldova's OSCE commitments and demonstrate Chisinau's contemptuous attitude towards international organisations.
Experts and political scientists point to numerous violations and falsifications by the authorities and draw attention to the non-transparent organisation of postal voting. It has been noted that turnout at a number of polling stations strangely surged just before they closed for the day, while at other stations the opposite occurred, and ballots were used up almost immediately after opening.
Media reported mass transport of Moldovan citizens to polling stations in Western European countries. Conversely, the authorities did everything possible to prevent the expression of will by "unreliable" citizens. For the many-thousand-strong Moldovan diaspora in Russia only two polling stations were opened, and only in Moscow, whereas in North America and Western Europe 280 polling points were operational, often half-empty.
Voting for residents of Transnistria was made extremely difficult. The number of polling stations allocated to them was reduced to 12, some of which were moved at the last minute to localities in Moldova that were far from the region. On election day, artificial obstacles were created on bridges across the Dniester River; citizens and vehicles were subjected to drawn-out checks. The operation of some of the polling points intended for Transnistrian voters was suspended after anonymous calls reporting alleged mining. A shortage of ballots was recorded at a number of polling stations.
Violations during the electoral process were so widespread and obvious that even the OSCE/ODIHR observation mission, known for its bias, selective approach and, when convenient, for "losing sight and hearing," could not completely ignore them in its preliminary conclusions.
The outcomes of the parliamentary election confirmed a deep split in Moldovan society caused by the destructive course of the country's leadership. Notably, inside Moldova itself, whose residents have fully felt the consequences of Chisinau's anti-popular policies, the Party of Action and Solidarity lost to the opposition. Most of its parliamentary seats were won thanks to the expat community in the West, which provided almost 30 percent of the votes. In several regions of Moldova, the ruling party's result was modest, and in Gagauzia it was an abject failure at 3.19 percent. There is also a general trend of declining popularity of the government: support fell from 47.17 percent in the 2021 parliamentary elections to 44.13 percent.
Hopefully, the new membership of the Moldovan parliament and the government to be formed following the elections will nonetheless draw the right conclusions and, in their work, will not act against the interests and the future of their own people. As we know from history, a truly stable and secure future lies in developing equal partnership with all countries. The course towards turning one's own country into an anti-Russia appendage of NATO and a logistical base for resupplying the criminal Kiev regime is a road that leads nowhere.
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