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Russia does not recognize Moldovan President Sandu’s re-election, Kremlin spokesperson says

Umito November 5, 2024

Russia does not recognize the recent electoral victory of outgoing Moldovan President Maia Sandu, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the pro-state Kommersant newspaper on November 5.

“As far as we know, she is not the president of her country because in the country itself the majority of the population did not vote for her,” Peskov said.

Sandu pro-EU won on Nov. 3, by a margin of about 55.3 percent to 44.7 percent, despite what she called “unprecedented” Moscow-backed election interference.

THE RussianSandu’s friendly Socialist Party, which supported Sandu’s opponent Alexandr Stoianoglo, also announced on November 5 that it did not consider Sandu legitimately elected and would not recognize her as president.

Igor DodonSandu’s Kremlin-backed predecessor and socialist president, accused the president of “shameless manipulation” and said she was only elected thanks to diaspora votes. The party plans to appeal to the Constitutional Court and the Central Election Commission over allegations of “violations by the authorities.”

The election saw record participation among Moldovan diaspora. A few 327,000 votes were chosen abroad, of which more than 80% were for Sandu.

In his country, the outgoing president obtained 48.67% of the votes, against 51.3% for former Attorney General Stoianoglo. This country of 2.5 million inhabitants recorded a participation rate of 54%.

Moldovan authorities, independent observers and EU and US officials have highlighted a malicious influence campaign involving criminal networks and political groups linked to Russia. Moldovan lawmakers claimed Moscow spent millions of dollars supporting Stoianoglo.

Sandu has long insisted that the real opponent of his government and Moldova’s European path is the Kremlin, which is waging a hybrid war designed to push Chisinau into Moscow’s orbit, which Sandu described:a fraud of unprecedented proportions“.