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3h ago

Moldova Excludes Two Pro-Russia Parties Ahead of Pivotal Parliamentary Vote

Officials describe a Kremlin-run campaign using cash, disinformation, provocateurs to tilt the result.

A woman runs in front of the government building, decorated with European Union and Moldovan flags in Chisinau, Moldova, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025, ahead of parliamentary elections taking place on Sept. 28. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
A gendarme watches as supporters hold flags at a protest rally of the Russia-friendly Patriotic Electoral Bloc in Chisinau, Moldova, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025, ahead of parliamentary elections taking place on Sept. 28. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
A woman walks in front of the government building, decorated with European Union and Moldovan flags, in Chisinau, Moldova, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025, ahead of parliamentary elections taking place on Sept. 28. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Irina Vlah, leader of the Heart of Moldova Republican Party and one of the leaders of the Patriotic Electoral Bloc, attends a rally launching the election campaign ahead of the parliamentary elections, at the Capriana Monastery in the village of Capriana, Moldova August 29, 2025. REUTERS/Vladislav Culiomza/File Photo

Overview

  • Election authorities barred Heart of Moldova following a court order restricting its activity for one year, removed 36 candidates from the Patriotic Bloc list, and gave the bloc 24 hours to refile.
  • The Central Electoral Commission later excluded Moldova Mare, citing illegal financing, undeclared foreign funds, vote-buying and participation in a camouflaged bloc tied to a banned party.
  • President Maia Sandu and security chiefs say Russia is pouring hundreds of millions of euros into vote-buying and online manipulation to sway the outcome; Moscow rejects the accusations as unsubstantiated.
  • Security services report dismantling a GRU-linked network that trained more than 100 Moldovans in Serbia to orchestrate pre- and post-election violence, alongside hundreds of raids and multiple detentions.
  • Party figures face European measures, with Heart of Moldova leader Irina Vlah sanctioned and barred from entry by several EU states and Moldova Mare leader Victoria Furtuna previously blacklisted for ties to Ilan Shor, while polls suggest PAS could lose its majority and face coalition talks.