Our Planet Climate and Geopolitics
On Sunday, Moldovans voted in a presidential election and EU referendum, billed as the moment to cement the country’s shift away from Russia or yank it back into its orbit. Maia Sandu, the pro-EU incumbent who has been a bête noire for Moscow since becoming president in 2020, failed to secure an outright win and now faces a run-off next month. With 92 per cent of votes counted in the EU referendum – which would enshrine Moldova’s EU accession talks in the constitution – 52 per cent voted “no”, although analysts said the “yes” block could still win as pro-EU diaspora ballots were still being counted. Sandu said on Sunday that Moldova’s freedom and democracy had faced an “unprecedented” assault from criminal groups working with “foreign forces”. Officials said before the vote that over $15 million in Russian money had been funnelled into the bank accounts of as many as 130,000 Moldovan citizens in the last month, while Moldova’s foreign ministry said Russia may have bussed in voters to overseas polling stations in Moscow. Russia denies interfering.
