Will President Sandu take her post-Soviet state to EU without havoc?

By Farman Aydin, AzerNEWS

The referendum on Moldova's accession to the EU was finally declared valid. At the beginning of the elections, pro-Russian voters dominated the ballots, but later the percentage of pro-European voters began to increase.

Even responding to the results, Moldova's pro-EU president, Maia Sandu, accused several groups of engaging in voting fraud.

"Moldova has faced an unprecedented assault on our country's freedom and democracy, both today and in recent months," Sandu told supporters in the capital, Chisinau.

She said that these groups backed by foreign forces had tried to "undermine democratic process" by trying to to buy up to 300,000 votes.

"We are waiting for the final results, and we will respond with firm decisions," she said in a separate written statement as mentioned in the Deutsche Welle.

Sandu's possible victory and the future fate of Moldova

Although Moldova is a post-Soviet place, the political structure here is different from Georgia and other CIS countries. The inability of the Russian-leaning political elite to penetrate widely among the people makes it difficult for them to win a majority in the elections.

For example, the prevention of a fraud attempt ahead of Sunday's elections indicates that some kind of Western control is strong in the country. It should be recalled that in May, US State Department Secretary Antony Blinken had a visit in the country before EU officials’ intensive meetings with Sandu just a month to the elections. These meetings made a summary of the overall situation in Moldova and gave a chance to forecast a general result in the White House.

The West already understood the situation regarding Georgia. For this reason, the US State Department tried to focus more on Moldova. Because Moldova is considered the final stronghold of the West against Russia among the post-Soviet countries. Unlike Ukraine, Moldova is slightly outside the borders of Russia, and its integration into EU seems geostrategically possible despite concentration of Russian military contingent in the country’s territory.

But experts think even after Maia Sandu’s possible victory, the country’s stability is still questionable given Russia’s concern about the rise of Western dominance.

Her narrow lead in the presidential elections

Despite Moldova's strong ties with the West, Sandu's fragile electoral lead brought her closer to the next round. More than 90% of the ballots showed Sandu ahead of her other opponents with an 11% majority. Her pro-Russian rival, Alexandr Stoianoglo, won 28% of the vote, slightly narrowing Sandu's chances of becoming president.

Currently, President Maia Sandu is competing in the elections against ten opponents and her strongest opponent is the former prosecutor supported by the pro-Russian Socialists, 57-year-old Stoianoglo.

Despite all this, Maia Sandu shines as the successful candidate to lead her country to the European Union.