Overview

• Election officials excluded Heart of Moldova from the ballot after an appeals court restricted the party’s activities for one year, striking 36 candidates and giving its Patriotic Bloc 24 hours to rework its list.
• Moldova’s deputy prime minister said a cyberattack targeting the Central Electoral Commission has been contained, blamed Russia for the incident, and welcomed the EU’s first deployment of its new cyber reserve.
• Police this week detained 74 people during 250 raids in an investigation into an alleged Russia‑backed plan to provoke unrest around the vote, with officials citing training linked to Serbia.
• Russia’s SVR pushed a narrative titled “Europe Prepares to Occupy Moldova,” which analysts say pro‑Kremlin Telegram channels amplified to sow fear and preemptively question the election’s integrity.
• Western governments issued fresh warnings and restrictions, including Baltic and Polish travel bans on Heart of Moldova leader Irina Vlah, as polls indicate the ruling PAS could lose its majority and face coalition talks.