CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — Moldovan historian and politician Octavian Ticu remembers the time when the Soviet Union collapsed in the early 1990s, a seismic event that allowed him to become one of the first amateur boxers to fight for his country at the pinnacle of his sport: the Olympic Games.

“It was a happy moment for me,” recalls the 52-year-old, as he clenches his fists in a boxing gym in the capital, Chisinau. “In 1996, I participated in the Olympic Games in Atlanta. … If I was in the Soviet Union, I would never have accomplished this.”

But today, more than three decades after proclaiming independence, Moldova is Russia’s target in a hybrid war of propaganda and disinformation that is “wreaking havoc,” Ticu, who competed in the lightweight division, told the Associated Press.

Like Ukraine and Georgia, the former Soviet republic aspires to join the European Union but it is caught in a constant geopolitical tension between Moscow and the West.

“Russian propaganda is a reality of 30 years of independence,” added Ticu, who has written several books on his country’s history.

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This story, supported by the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting, is part of an ongoing Associated Press series covering threats to democracy in Europe.

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In a national referendum on October 20, Moldovans voted with a very slim majority of 50.35% in favor of securing the path to EU membership. But the result was overshadowed by allegations of a Moscow-backed vote-buying scheme.

In a presidential election held on the same dayoutgoing pro-Western president Maia Sandu received 42% of the vote, but failed to secure an absolute majority. On Sunday, she will face Alexandr Stoianoglo, a Russia-friendly former attorney general, in a runoff seen as a choice between geopolitical opposites — again.

As with the EU referendum, a poll released this week by research firm iData indicates a tight race on Sunday that leans towards a narrow victory for Sandu, an outcome that could depend on the large Moldovan diaspora.

The presidential role confers significant powers in areas such as foreign policy and national security.

Following the two October votes, Moldovan law enforcement said a vote-buying scheme was orchestrated by Ilan Shor, an exiled oligarch currently living in Russia and who was sentenced in absentia in 2023 fraud and money laundering. Prosecutors say $39 million was paid to more than 130,000 beneficiaries through an internationally sanctioned Russian bank between September and October. Shor denies any wrongdoing.

“These people who go to Moscow, the so-called government in exile of Ilan Shor, who arrive with very large sums of money, are left at large,” said Ticu, who ran as a candidate from afar in the elections. presidential race.

It was “obvious,” Ticu added, that the votes “would not be fair or democratic.” Of the 11 candidates in the first round, he was the only one to support Sandu in the second round.

Voters in the pro-Kremlin breakaway region of Transnistria, which declared independence after a short war in the early 1990s, can vote in Moldova proper. Transnistria was a source of tensions during the war in neighboring Ukraine, especially since it is home to a military base with 1,500 Russian soldiers.

Ticu warned that if Russian troops in Ukraine reached port city of Odessathey could “join the Transnistrian region, and then the Republic of Moldova would be occupied”.

In Gagauzia, an autonomous part of Moldova where only 5% voted for the EU, a doctor was arrested after allegedly forcing 25 residents of a home for the elderly to vote for a candidate they did not support. had not chosen. Police said they had obtained “conclusive evidence,” including financial transfers from the same sanctioned Russian bank.

Anti-corruption authorities have carried out hundreds of searches and seized more than $2.7 million (2.5 million euros) in cash as part of their crackdown.

Prosecutors raided a political party headquarters on Thursday and said 12 people were suspected of paying voters to select a candidate for the presidential race. A criminal case was also opened in which 40 employees of state agencies were suspected of accepting electoral bribes.

Instead of winning the massive support Sandu had hoped for, the results of both elections revealed that Moldova’s justice system was incapable of adequately protecting citizens. democratic process. It also allowed some pro-Moscow opposition to question the validity of the votes.

Igor Dodon, leader of the Socialist Party and former president who has close ties to Russia, said this week that “we do not recognize” the referendum result and called Sandu a “dictator in a skirt” who “will do whatever he wants.” ‘it’s necessary “. to stay in power. »