Russia queries Moldova’s EU path after tight election

A senior Russian official has urged Moldova to re-think its pro-EU course, after a parliamentary election gave parties favouring integration with the West only a narrow victory over those backing closer ties with Moscow.

With nearly all ballots counted after Sunday’s vote, the staunchly pro-Russian Socialist party was leading with 21.5 per cent, and their potential coalition partner the Communist party was in third place with 17.8 per cent of votes.

Three parties that strongly support Moldova’s eventual accession to the EU had a combined 44 per cent of votes, however, enough to give them a slim majority in parliament and keep the impoverished country of 3.5 million on its halting pro-western path.

The election and its aftermath are being watched closely by Brussels, Washington and Moscow, as they engage in what some are calling a new cold war over Ukraine, Moldova's neighbour and another ex-Soviet state that is trying to tilt west and reduce Kremlin influence.

Arms cache

Tension soared ahead of the ballot, when police announced the discovery of an arms cache suspected of belonging to pro-Russian radicals, and the most popular Moscow-friendly party was banned for illegally receiving funds from abroad.

The leader of the Patria party, Renato Usatii, denied wrongdoing, and fled to Russia saying he feared imminent arrest in Moldova.

Patria was forecast to perform strongly in the elections, and results suggest many supporters of Mr Usatii – a millionaire political novice who made his fortune doing business in Russia – backed the Socialists when Patria was excluded.

Analysts warn of possible protests in Moldova, particularly in the strongly pro-Russian region of Gagauzia, which earlier this year voted in an unofficial referendum to join a Moscow-led customs union rather than pursue EU membership.

The government in Chisinau is also monitoring the breakaway region of Transdniestria, which has been propped up by Moscow since pro-Kremlin rebels broke with Moldova in an early 1990s war; about 2,000 Russian soldiers are based there and many people have Russian passports.

Russian deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin said the results must be viewed in light of the exclusion of Patria and reported problems at Moldovan consulates in Russia that may have deprived many of their vote.

“Then you’ll understand the true strength of ‘Euro-integrators’ in the country,” he said.

“Chisinau should have a think: are you on the right road, comrades? And I haven’t even mentioned how 500,000 people in Transdniestria would vote, if they considered these elections to be theirs.”

Like Ukraine and Georgia, Moldova signed a far-reaching association agreement with the EU in June and also secured visa-free travel to the bloc, despite complaints, warnings and the imposition of an embargo on its wine and food by Russia.

Russia sees eastward expansion by the EU and Nato as part of a bid to weaken it and shrink its "sphere of influence"; in October, Mr Rogozin warned the West not to interfere in Transdniestria, saying there was "no need to indulge in any illusions about whether Russia will protect its own citizens".