Moldovans went to polls on Sunday to elect a president under the watchful eye of Moscow which wants the polarised country to remain in its orbit amid political and security crises on Russia's borders.
Polling stations opened at 0500 GMT and will close 14 hours later.
Despite its small size, politics in tiny Moldova, which is wedged between Ukraine and NATO member Romania, have long been deeply sensitive.
The impoverished country of 3.5 million has been divided between those favoring closer ties with the EU, in particular Romania, and those who cling to Soviet-era relations with Moscow.
Moldova's pro-Moscow president Igor Dodon, who is seeking a new four-year mandate, said his politically volatile country was tired of upheaval. He urged people to vote for "peace, stability, and development."
"Enough of squabbles and conflicts!" he said ahead of the election.
Dodon, 45, came to power in 2016, beating his pro-Western rival Maia Sandu, who wants Moldova to join the European Union, and he is hoping to defeat her again.
Sandu is a 48-year-old center-right opposition candidate who briefly served as prime minister between June and November 2019.
Dodon's main rival has promised to "move the country forward on the path of integration with the EU" and create more jobs to stem a mass exodus of workforce.
Many voters said they had grown tired of politicians' quarrels and just wanted a better life.
"We want better living conditions, schools for children and above all peace," said Marin Ioan, a pensioner in the northeastern town of Soroca.
Experts predict a second-round runoff on November 15, as neither Dodon nor Sandu are expected to secure an outright majority on Sunday.
As well as the two frontrunners, six more candidates are contesting the vote.
'Referendum on Dodon'
Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed hope that Moldovan voters would back Dodon, noting their country's economy -- battered by the coronavirus outbreak -- is firmly linked to Russia.
Valeriu Pasa, an analyst with the think tank WatchDog Moldova, compared the polls to a "referendum on Dodon's mandate" and said Moscow was keen to maintain the status quo in Moldova.
"The current regime is fully subordinate to the Kremlin," Pasa told AFP.
Dodon, who served as economy minister under a communist government between 2006 and 2009, has promised continued close ties with Moldova's "strategic partner" Moscow and has said the Russian language should become compulsory in schools.
Some find the former Socialist Party leader's program unconvincing.
"For 70 years we lived under the yoke of Russia which treated us as vassals," said Gheorghe Istrate, a 59-year-old resident of Chisinau. "We've had enough."
Moldova was part of the Soviet Union between 1940 and 1991.
But Ekaterina Radetskaya, 69, said Dodon deserved a second chance.
"He's a good man and a good president," she told AFP, insisting that the Moldovan leader had been prevented by opponents from fully implementing his program.
Russia last week accused the United States of preparing a "revolution" in Moldova.
In a rare public statement, the head of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Sergei Naryshkin alleged that Washington was inciting the Moldovan opposition to take to the streets after the vote to denounce its validity and demand a re-run.
Russia stations troops in Moldova's Moscow-backed breakaway region of Transnistria, which broke away after a brief civil war following the collapse of the USSR in 1991 and is not internationally recognized.
The first election results are expected overnight.
|
|
Din aceeaşi secţiune
Cele mai noi ştiri de azi
Local roads bring greater connectivity and support to rural communities in Moldova
One August day in the mid-1960s, my parents boarded a bus in the village of Hartopul Mare in the center of Moldova to travel to the capital Chisinau, determined to get a better education and better jobs in the Soviet planned economy. It was a 90-minute trip in a vehicle packed with about 50...
( ) Read all
Moldova: Statement by the Spokesperson on the latest legislative proposals
On Thursday 3 December, the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova voted on a number of legislative proposals, including on limitations of Presidential powers, tabled in a hasty and non-transparent manner.
( ) Read all
7 dead in Russia for drinking hand sanitizer after running out of liquor — reports
Seven people died from methanol (wood alcohol) poisoning after drinking hand sanitizer at a party in Russia. Nine people, with ages ranging from 27 to 69 years old, were partying when they opted to drink hand sanitizer after running out of alcoholic beverages, according to local Russian...
( ) Read allPro-EU opposition candidate Maia Sandu has ousted incumbent Igor Dodon to become Moldova's new president
( )
Read all
Danube Logistics: Chisinau Appeals Court declares Bemol's actions against Danube Logistics unlawful
The Chisinau Appeals Court has declared Bemol's actions against Danube Logistics unlawful, according to a press release of Danube Logistics SRL and Danube Logistics Holding BV.
( ) Read allDainius Žalimas The decision of the Constitutional Court of Belarus is an arbitrary act
On 25 August 2020 the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Belarus (thereinafter – the CCRB) adopted a document entitled the “Constitutional Legal Position on the Protection of the Constitutional Order” (Kонституционно-правовaя позиция по...
( ) Read allFinCEN Files: Deutsche Bank tops list of suspicious transactions
Leaked documents shed a light on Deutsche Bank's central role in facilitating financial transactions deemed suspicious. Many of these could have enabled the circumvention of sanctions on Iran and Russia.
( ) Read allOPINION Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: The regime in Belarus is trying to steal our victory. It won’t succeed
( )
Read all
How the Red Terror set a macabre course for the Soviet Union
In 1918, the Bolshevik regime launched a state-sanctioned campaign of mass killings and detentions to silence political enemies—laying the foundation for decades of violence in the U.S.S.R.
( ) Read allThe End of History and the Fast Man. Bidding farewell to America’s car culture — and its democratic virtues
( )
Read all
Lithuania to sanction Belarus’ Constitutional Court officials
Lithuania may impose national sanctions on officials from the Belarusian Constitutional Court, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said on Thursday.
( ) Read all
How Romania is Handling Cybersecurity Threats
In 2013, Romania approved a national cybersecurity strategy and began its implementation. It wasn't the only EU country to take action.
( ) Read all
Mass grave uncovered of victims of Russian armed and led occupation of Sloviansk in 2014
( )
Read all
Putin Chef's Kisses of Death: Russia's Shadow Army's State-Run Structure Exposed (bellingcat.com)
( )
Read all
‘Just shoot us already’ Arrested during protests in Minsk and jailed for two days, a Russian journalist describes the carnage of Belarusian incarceration
( )
Read all
Belarus: Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union on the presidential elections
Foto: Minsk, Belarus
( )
Read all
Belarus presidential elections: Meet the three women teaming up to take on 'Europe's last dictator'
( )
Read all
How objectivity in journalism became a matter of opinion
In America, political and commercial strains have led to questions about its value and meaning
( ) Read allWhat Vladimir Putin Tells Us about His Relations with the West
Putin claims the EU resolution is part of “a deliberate policy aimed at destroying the postwar world order.” The truth is less dramatic and more illuminating.
( ) Read allForeign Policy New Report Exposes Brutal Methods of Russia’s Wagner Group
How a shady network of operatives serves as the tip of the spear in Russia’s global influence efforts with almost no accountability.
( ) Read allEU’s top diplomat says no to Russia rejoining G7
The European Union doesn't think Russia should rejoin the G7.
( ) Read allMoldovan court facilitates attempt to expropriate European investment in Moldova’s Seaport
On 12 May 2020 the Chișinău Appeals Court barred Danube Logistics SRL from transferring funds to its Dutch shareholder Danube Logistics Holding BV. Danube Logistics SRL is the operator of Giurgiulești International Free Port located on the maritime section of the Danube.
( ) Read all
