White House: Russia failed to undermine elections in Moldova, although it worked energetically on it

(Patria) - Russia failed to undermine the elections in Moldova, although it worked energetically in that direction, said the White House spokesman yesterday, while also calling for caution.

- Democracy is strong in Moldova, as is the will of the Moldovan people to advance towards European integration - said National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, after the narrow victory of "yes" in the referendum on EU membership.

The "yes" vote won in the referendum on the former Soviet republic's membership in the European Union with 50.46 percent. At the same time, presidential elections were held, the second round of which will be on November 3.

- We know there is a second round and we expect the Russians to try to influence these elections as well - said Kirby.

In the second round of the presidential elections in that country of 2.6 million inhabitants, the current president Maia Sandu, who won 42.45 percent of the vote, and former chief prosecutor Alexandr Stoianoglo, who received 25.98 percent, are going.

The referendum and presidential elections are considered a test of the deeply divided country's decision to maintain close ties with Russia or embark on a potentially lengthy process of joining the EU.

- No one is doing a victory dance - said Kirby, indicating that the US continues to work with Moldova to protect the integrity of the second round of elections.

President Sandu stated yesterday that Moldovans won "the first battle in a tough fight" for their future.

"The people of Moldova said - our future in the EU will now be anchored in the constitution. We fought fairly in an unfair fight - and we won," Sandu wrote on platform X.

The result means that a clause defining EU accession as a strategic goal will be added to the constitution.

Moldova has been a candidate for membership since 2022 and in June began the long process of official accession negotiations.

Earlier, Sandu told Moldovans that there was clear evidence that criminal groups aided by foreign forces "hostile to our national interests" intended to buy 300,000 votes.

Ahead of the vote, authorities said there were attempts at interference with Moscow's support led by fugitive tycoon Ilan Shor, including an attempt to bribe 130,000 people to vote "no" and support a specific candidate in the elections.

The Kremlin, which denies interference, condemned the elections and referendum in Moldova as unfree, casting doubt on what it said was a difficult-to-explain increase in votes in favor of Sandu and the EU.

According to the first preliminary results of the referendum published on Monday night, the "no" answer had won. With the counting of votes to the end, this changed to "yes".

The presidential elections and the referendum on Moldova's EU membership on October 20 were "well conducted" despite "serious attempts to undermine their integrity," according to observers cited by the Council of Europe on Monday.

"Voting day was peaceful and well organized, and the voting process was assessed positively by observers, with only a few procedural issues noted," the Council of Europe statement said.

- The results of the elections as well as the referendum therefore mark a turning point for the country, despite the intense interference of the Kremlin in the electoral process - said Petra Bayr, head of the delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

In June, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada warned of a Russian "conspiracy" aimed at influencing the presidential elections and "inciting protests" if the pro-Russian candidate does not win.