On October 20, in a referendum held in Moldova, citizens voted in favor of European integration, winning by a narrow margin, according to a report by Euronews, as shared by the national portal “Adyrna.”
Moldovan President Maia Sandu explained that the initial lead of anti-EU votes after 58% of the ballots were processed was due to voter bribery. Later, after 98.11% of the votes were counted, it was announced that the supporters and opponents of European integration were tied. However, after 100% of the ballots were processed, it was confirmed that the pro-European integration side had won.
President Maia Sandu declared that voter bribery had occurred during the Sunday referendum, calling it an “unprecedented attack on freedom and democracy.” According to her, “criminal groups” had bought 300,000 votes, representing 10% of all registered voters.
“Some people sold their votes. In any democratic country, it’s normal for people to have different opinions. But it is not normal for criminal groups to buy voters. I accuse these criminal groups of using dirty money to buy the votes of Moldovan citizens,” Sandu said.
Maia Sandu did not specify who these criminal groups were. Meanwhile, the Moldovan opposition stated that Sandu provided no evidence to support her claims. International observers from the OSCE noted that while they did not witness vote theft at the polling stations, they did observe instances of “manipulative interference,” disinformation campaigns, and illegal financing of political forces.
