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Moldova's Elections Could Determine Whether Country Moves East Or West

By RFE/RL's Moldovan Service February 23, 2019

CHISINAU -- Voters in Moldova are going to the polls on February 24 in parliamentary elections that could determine whether the tiny, impoverished Eastern European country moves closer to Moscow or the European Union.

Opinion polls suggest the Socialist Party -- led by Igor Dodon until he became Moldova's president -- will secure the most votes. But the pro-Russia Socialists do not appear to have enough support to win an outright majority in parliament.

Challenging the Socialists are the pro-EU opposition ACUM coalition and the Democratic Party, the main party in the ruling coalition which has called for balancing ties between Russia and the West.

The elections come after a campaign marked by accusations of poisoning of two ACUM members and the removal by Facebook of fake accounts suspected of targeting Moldovans ahead of the ballot with false or misleading information.

In an extraordinary development, Moscow announced just two days before the vote that it was opening an investigation into a suspected money laundering scheme that allegedly involved a leader of the ruling Democratic Party.

The timing of that announcement was seen by some critics as an attempt by Moscow to influence the results of the election, as it allegedly attempted to do in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and in several European Union countries.

Moldova's Prime Minister Pavel Filip, of the Democratic Party, is among those who have complained about developments that could be "considered an intervention" by Russia in the campaign.

The former Soviet republic of 3.6 million people has had three governments since 2015, following the disappearance of some $1 billion -- about 12 percent of the country's gross domestic product -- from the banking system plunged it into a political and economic crisis.

Dodon is a vocal supporter and staunch ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has traveled to Moscow for talks with Putin. In December, Dodon praised what he called "the openness of the Russian leadership" and its "great interest" in developing a strategic partnership between Russia and Moldova.

Ahead of the February 24 vote, Dodon said Moldova needs to maintain good relations with Moscow because of what he said was uncertainty about the future of the EU.

"I don't know what will happen to the EU in 10 to 15 years from now," he told the Associated Press on February 21.

"Why should we have objectives and make promises?" Dodon said, noting Britain's scheduled departure from the 28-nation bloc.

Russia supplies Moldova with 95 percent of its natural gas. It also has troops stationed in the Russian-speaking breakaway region of Transdniester -- despite repeated UN calls for them to leave.

Chisinau's relations with Russia, however, deteriorated after Moldova signed an association agreement with the EU in 2014. Russia then placed an embargo on some Moldovan goods. Now, 70 percent of Moldovan exports head to the EU.

The ACUM, a coalition led by former Education Minister Maia Sandu and protest leader Andrei Nastase, has accused Moldova's governing coalition of rampant corruption.

It has pledged not to enter a coalition with either the Democratic Party or the Socialists in the case of a hung parliament.

Days ahead of the vote, Sandu and Nastase accused authorities of poisoning them. Medical tests showed they had elevated levels of mercury in their blood in recent months.

Medical files provided to RFE/RL's Moldovan Service on February 22 show that Nastase had a mercury blood level of 8.7 at the start of December, well above the normal value of less than two for that type of test. Sandu had a level of 2.7.

The Democratic Party rejected the accusations of poisoning.

The charges came after Facebook announced it had removed 168 accounts, 28 pages, and eight Instagram accounts after they were discovered to be "engaging in coordinated unauthentic behavior targeting people in Moldova."

Facebook's cybersecurity policy chief, Nathaniel Gleicher, said on February 14 that the suspicious accounts focused on local news and political issues, and shared "manipulated photos, divisive narratives, and satire."

Gleicher said "some of this activity was linked to employees of the Moldovan government."

In a statement on February 22, the Russian Interior Ministry said it is investigating a money laundering scheme through two Russian banks which it believes was organized by two of Moldova's richest men -- Vladimir Plahotniuc and Veaceslav Platon.

Plahotniuc is the leader of the Democratic Party and one of the most influential people in the country.

Russian police say they have detained a Russian national in connection with the case.

With reporting by AP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/moldova- elections-dodon-socialists-acum-democrats- russia-eu/29787009.html

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Moldova's Elections Could Determine Whether Country Moves East Or West