• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Moldovan Voters Choosing 'East Or West'

November 30, 2014
by RFE/RL

Partial results from Moldova show that pro-European parties are ahead in parliamentary elections.

However, tough post-election bargaining is expected.

With 80 percent of the vote counted, the Liberal Democratic Party and the Democratic Party, which are part of the pro-EU coalition that has ruled the country since 2009, had 19.09 percent and 15.91 percent, respectively.

The pro-Europe Liberal Party, which left the coalition and went into opposition last year, had 9.1 percent.

The Socialist Party, which favor membership of a Russian-led Customs Union, was leading the race with 21.76 percent, while the more moderate Communists had 18.03 percent.

Led by Vladimir Voronin, a former long-serving president who many of the older generation identify with past stability, the Communist Party insists it is not opposed to EU integration.

But it is also calling for good relations with Moscow and for a review of a key pact with the EU to better protect domestic producers.

Turnout of the November 30 elections was nearly 56 percent.

Parties must win at least 6 percent of the vote to get a seat.

​​Three days before the polls, elections authorities barred the pro-Russian Patria (Homeland) party from the race over alleged illegal financing from abroad.

The party's leader, Renato Usatii, a 36-year-old Russian businessman of Moldovan origins, denied the allegation and fled to Russia.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said the ban raised 'serious doubts about the democratic nature' of the elections.

No notable incidents were reported at voting stations in Moldova, but there were reports of large crowds trying to vote at Moldova's Embassy in Moscow.

Five polling stations for Moldovans were opened on Russian territory. According to some estimates, there are at least 300,000 Moldovans living and working abroad -- half of them in Russia.

The head of Moldova's Central Electoral Commission, Iurie Ciocan, told a news conference in Chisinau that authorities were 'trying to maintain the [voting] process [in Moscow] within the limits of calm, legality and correctitude,' amid reports that Russian OMON police forces have been called to maintain order.

Moldovans speaking to RFE/RL outside the Embassy in Moscow expressed their intentions to support the pro-Russian parties.

As in previous elections, the Russian-backed breakaway region of Transdniester is not taking part. The more than 200,000 Moldovan citizens who live in Transdniester have no polling station located on the territory controlled by the pro-Russian separatists.

Moldova, one of Europe's poorest countries, is a landlocked country bordered by Ukraine and EU member Romania.

Around 78 percent of the population is ethnic Romanian, while Ukrainians and Russians account for around 14 percent.

The government signed a far-reaching Association Agreement with the European Union and achieved a visa-free travel regime with the bloc.

But it suffers from the perception of widespread and unaddressed corruption.

Russia has shown its displeasure to the government's pro-European agenda by banning imports of agricultural products from Moldova, including wine, meat, fruit and vegetables, dealing a severe blow to its economy.

Moscow has also called on Moldova to postpone the implementation of the trade part of the association accord with the EU, saying it is worried by a flood of cheap EU goods affecting its producers.

With reporting by moldpres.md, AP, Reuters, and AFP

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/moldova- holds-key-general-elections/26717316.html

Copyright (c) 2014. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.