‘Artificial’ crowds in Russia aim to disrupt EU referendum, Moldova warns

Russia is bussing in thousands of voters at overseas polling stations in a bid to influence Sunday’s critical presidential election and EU referendum in Moldova, according to allegations by Moldovan officials.

Almost 900,000 people have already voted in the countrywide poll, in which pro-Western President Maia Sandu is seeking re-election to a second term. Citizens are also being asked to cast ballots on joining the EU, with the government pushing for full membership by 2030.

However, two polling stations established in Russia to count the votes of Moldovans living in that country have seen huge numbers of people lining up outside, with pro-Kremlin social media accounts posting clips of them singing Soviet-era patriotic songs as they wait.

In a statement hours after polls opened on Sunday, Moldova’s foreign ministry warned that the throngs of voters could be “a result of attempts to organize illegal transportation of voters to the polling stations.”

“We believe that the crowds at the two polling stations in Russia have been artificially created to jeopardize the electoral process,” officials said. The two overseas polling stations were set up to allow Moldovans living in Russia to take part in the election and referendum.

To pass, at least 33 percent of eligible voters must cast ballots in the presidential election and the referendum on whether to enshrine EU membership in Moldova’s constitution. That figure has already been reached for the presidential election, with an announcement on whether the referendum has met the threshold expected later Sunday.

As many as 1.2 million Moldovans live abroad, compared to the country’s population of 2.5 million, meaning the diaspora vote will play a critical role in Sunday’s results. But the two polling stations in Russia have only 5,000 ballot papers each, in line with rules establishing a maximum, meaning many of those queuing in Moscow could be unable to cast a ballot.

In the leadup to the vote, Moldovan officials warned that Russia was working to actively influence the outcome and to “delegitimize” the result in a bid to keep the Eastern European nation in its orbit. More than $15 million in Russian funds has been funnelled into the bank accounts of more than 130,000 Moldovan citizens as part of a vote-buying scheme, police investigators told POLITICO.

President Sandu has overseen a dramatic pivot toward the West since taking office in 2020, forging close relations with neighboring Ukraine and securing candidate status from the EU. Moldovan and Ukrainian governments have warned that Russia has been trying to stage a coup to oust her in favor of pro-Kremlin parties.