Overview

• Moldova’s Central Election Commission denied accreditation to all 16 Russian short‑term observers designated for the OSCE/ODIHR mission to the 28 September parliamentary elections.
• The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned Moldovan ambassador Liliian Darii and lodged a formal protest, citing the 1990 Copenhagen Document and the 2002 CIS convention as being violated.
• Russian officials, including Maria Zakharova and Ella Pamfilova, described the move as politically motivated, questioned the Moldovan CEC’s independence, and pressed ODIHR to reflect and publicly assess the denial.
• Members of Russia’s Public Chamber were also refused accreditation due to the absence of an official invitation and said they will monitor the process using open sources.
• Transnistrian figures alleged curtailed voting access for residents, pointing to only 12 polling sites and about 23,500 ballots allocated for voters from the region.