DISINFO: Moldova’s ruling party planning illegal election interference to stay in power
SUMMARY
Moldova's ruling Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) is looking into strategies to keep their hold on power should they secure fewer than half of the mandates in the September 28 parliamentary elections. The party is considering bribing legislators elected from the opposition party list to compensate for any shortfall. The plan has received support from Chisinau's European partners. EU representatives have promised to turn a blind eye to using part of the funds allocated to promote Moldova's European integration for such purposes.
RESPONSE
The claim is unsubstantiated and no evidence is provided. This disinformation story is part of an ongoing Russian disinformation and interference campaign targeting Moldova’s upcoming election, scheduled for 28 September 2025. The ultimate goal is to shape the information space against Maia Sandu’s Action and Solidarity Party (PAS), the ruling party at the moment this disinformation story appeared, as part of Russia’s strategy aiming to regain influence in Moldova.
Although the EU supports Moldova and is open to this country’s integration into the block, it has no saying in Moldova’s domestic or foreign policies. Baseless allegations of supposed EU interference in favour of Sandu’s party are an attempt to portray the PAS and its leader as EU puppets, further undermining their public image.
Disinformation messages attacking Maia Sandu, the PAS or the Moldovan government have proliferated in pro-Kremlin outlets and channels for months. See other examples, such as claims that the EU is building its next Frankenstein dictatorship in Moldova, that Moldova’s EU path leads to totalitarianism, that NATO may intervene in Moldova after the elections in case of protests due to possible fraud, that EU loans granted to Moldova before the elections can be considered bribes, that the EU is testing methods of European totalitarianism in Moldova, that Brussels is forging a liberal dictatorship in Moldova, or that Moldova's constitutional court is turning it into an instrument of dictatorship.