On Sunday, Moldova held parliamentary elections that will be pivotal in determining the country’s future direction. According to the Central Election Commission, President Maia Sandu’s pro-European Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) secured a decisive victory, winning more than 50% of the vote and clinching a majority with 55 of the 101 seats.
The “Patriotic Bloc,” led by former pro-Russian president Igor Dodon, came in second with just over 24%. The “Alternative” bloc picked up nearly 8%, while the “Democracy at Home” party surprised observers by crossing the 6% threshold. “Our Party” followed with 5.62%.
Turnout reached almost 52% — up more than 4 points from the 2021 snap parliamentary elections. As in past votes, the diaspora proved decisive, contributing over 264,000 ballots. The election day was not without disruption: authorities reported bomb threats at polling stations in Italy, Romania, Spain, and the United States.
Election monitors from Promo-LEX flagged more than 250 incidents on voting day — from breaches of ballot secrecy to organised bussing of voters, including groups brought in from Russia through Belarus, and even last-minute campaigning at polling stations. In the days before the vote, President Maia Sandu warned that Moscow was cranking up its disinformation machine, targeting the Moldovan diaspora online, leaning on priests to push propaganda, and unleashing its “Matryoshka” bot network to pump out fake news dressed up as foreign media.
“These elections were another crossroads for Moldova,” Rostyslav Klimov, an expert with the Foreign Policy Council “Ukrainian Prism,” told The Ukrainian Week. “People were choosing between integration and isolation, between democracy and a step towards authoritarianism.”
“Undoubtedly, the victory of the pro-European PAS party and its absolute majority means Moldova will stay firmly on its path of European integration — a clear win over Russian propaganda and financing. But the results also expose two pressing problems that remain, and that the Kremlin will keep exploiting to destabilise the country: occupied Transnistria and the autonomous region of Gagauzia. In Transnistria, PAS managed to secure around 30% of the vote, while in Gagauzia support didn’t rise above 3%. The newly elected parliament — and PAS in particular — will now face the challenge of changing this,” said Rostyslav Klimov.
For Ukraine, he added, the outcome is a positive one. “Moldova has long been, and remains, a key partner for Ukraine across many areas — defence, energy, trade, and, more broadly, in driving forward the European course of development. President Maia Sandu and her party are strongly pro-Ukrainian, so Kyiv should be more than satisfied with the outcome of these parliamentary elections in Moldova.”
Meanwhile, in Moldova, supporters of the pro-Russian “Patriotic Bloc,” which lost the parliamentary elections, staged a protest outside the parliament building, according to Ziarul de Gardă and Observator News. The demonstration lasted less than an hour, with leaders of pro-Russian forces repeatedly booed by the crowd. When someone shouted “Glory to Ukraine!”, the response was a mocking “As part of Russia.” In the end, Vlad Batrîncea, vice president of the Party of Socialists of Moldova, urged people to go home and stay “in touch.”
“Pro-Russian forces suffered a crushing defeat in these elections, with no chance of even a minimal majority,” said Rostyslav Klimov. “It’s already clear what their next moves will be. The leader of the Socialists and former president, Igor Dodon, has started rallying protesters in the streets, but these demonstrations won’t last long and pose no real threat to the constitutional order. Overall, pro-Russian forces will try to throw a spanner in the works to destabilise the situation, but their efforts will mostly be in vain.”
