Daughter of Moldova’s pro-Kremlin presidential candidate is keeping your bank safe

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The European Central Bank has warned banks to be on their guard against cyber-attacks from Russia and other authoritarian states. That same European Central Bank is also employing the daughter of a pro-Russian candidate for Moldova’s presidency — Alexandr Stoianoglo — as part of its banking supervision technology team.

There is no suggestion that Corina Stoianoglo, the anti-EU candidate’s youngest daughter, has acted improperly in her work. Moreover, EU labor law prohibits discrimination against potential or actual staff on the basis of their political convictions.

However, her position on the so-called Suptech team of the ECB’s supervisory arm, which focuses on “fostering a digital culture and delivering new supervisory tools and technologies” arguably places her in an especially sensitive spot.

Corina took on her new role last month after previously completing a one-year traineeship at the ECB starting in the summer of 2023. She joined the team at a time when, according to the ECB, “the cyber environment has become more hostile than before owing to the aggressive acts of authoritarian states or cyber criminals linked to them.”

Corina has not explicitly voiced any anti-EU political convictions, but she has supported her father’s campaign, applauding his commitment to better education in a campaign video. She has also acted as a channel for his campaign messages by allowing herself to be tagged in her uncle’s frequent posting of campaign material on Facebook.

She has, however, taken down a message that she posted on LinkedIn earlier this month that included a picture of her and ECB President Christine Lagarde at an internal staff event. The post triggered a substantial reaction from LinkedIn users and Moldovan media, with site users expressing concern over a perceived “potential risk to the integrity and security” of the ECB.

According to Romanian news site G4Media, Corina is able to work at the ECB because she, her sister and her father all hold dual Moldovan and Romanian citizenship. Ordinary Moldovans have no such rights because their country is not part of the EU.

Moldova held presidential elections on Oct. 20, along with a referendum on EU membership. The pro-EU side won by a razor-thin margin, despite what its supporters alleged was a massive campaign of vote buying funded by Russia to derail the country’s accession effort. Stoianoglo, who supported a boycott of the EU referendum organized by pro-Russian parties, finished second in the first round of the presidential election with 26.1 percent of votes. He will face incumbent Maia Sandu, who won the first round with 42 percent, in a second-round runoff.

The ECB doesn’t see a problem.

“We are fully confident in our security checks on staff members,” an ECB spokeswoman said.

Asked whether Corina had disclosed her link to a politically exposed person at the time of her interview, the ECB said Corina joined the bank in 2023, a year before her father became a presidential candidate.

By that time, however, her father had already been suspended from his position as prosecutor-general amid allegations of abuse of office and corruption. Sandu accused him of failing to prosecute well-connected oligarchs who she said had looted the country under its previous president, Igor Dodon. Stoianoglo argued the charges were politically motivated.

He was formally dismissed last year, but was acquitted of corruption charges earlier this year. In an embarrassing reverse for Sandu, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that his right to a fair trial had been violated.

Corina Stoianoglo did not respond to a request for comment.

Gabriel Gavin and Carlo Martuscelli contributed to this report from Brussels.