Strasbourg – Moldova’s President Maia Sandu has issued one of her starkest warnings yet, born of the awareness of standing on the edge between two scenarios that could shape the country’s future irreversibly. “On 28 September 2025, Moldova will hold the most consequential election in its history,” she warned the European Parliament plenary in Strasbourg on 9 September, urging EU institutions to step up their support for Moldovan democracy.
According to Sandu, the outcome of these crucial parliamentary elections will determine whether Moldova consolidates “as a stable democracy on the path to EU membership,” or whether “Russia destabilises us, pulls us away from Europe, and turns us into a threat on Ukraine’s south-western border and Europe’s eastern frontier.”
While Sandu’s pro-EU stance is unambiguous, the outcome at the ballot box in less than three weeks remains uncertain. The experience of the 2024 presidential elections and the referendum on EU accession has shown how fragile the process can be. “Interference does not begin and end on election day. It starts months before, and lingers long after,” Sandu stressed, describing Russia’s actions as like a virus: “It finds the cracks—and strikes.”
Moldova’s place in the EU
Sandu’s appeal in Strasbourg was not a plea for the EU to interfere in the electoral process, but a call to back the Moldovan people in their democratic aspirations and their drive to join the European family. What is happening in Moldova, she argued, mirrors the recent history of much of the continent: “Most of your democracies were not complete when you joined this Union,” she reminded MEPs, pointing to the role of “the help of others” in building, supporting and protecting “every democracy in this chamber.”
From the post-Second World War reconciliation of Germany and France to the creation of a united Europe—”fragile at first, but together strong”—through to the successive enlargements that “sheltered democracy” in countries emerging from right-wing dictatorships—such as Greece, Spain, and Portugal—or from Soviet domination, and that brought “solidarity and security” to countries in Northern Europe and “peace” to Slovenia and Croatia after the dissolution of Yugoslavia.
Today, “Moldova, Ukraine and the Western Balkans stand at the gates,” President Sandu noted, a “living proof” that the European project is still “thriving, expanding and protecting.” With both Moldova and Ukraine ready to advance to the next stage of negotiations, she argued, “our democracies will be safer once we are inside the Union.” At the same time, protecting “fragile democracies until they grow strong” is vital for the entire Union: “If our democracy cannot be protected, then no democracy in Europe is safe.”
Having built “a living democracy” over the past 34 years and withstanding all forms of Russian interference—including a separatist conflict and energy blackmail—Moldova, “unlike some other places across the former Soviet Union, did not become an autocracy,” maintaining pluralism and free elections. Yet the European path “is not just a matter of values—it is a matter of survival,” as Chișinău feels “the long arm of Russian aggression” along its 1,200-kilometre border with Ukraine.
In this regard, President Sandu made it clear that she is not seeking shortcuts in the EU accession process. “We are doing our homework diligently,” she told MEPs, but highlighted that the EU enlargement is “not just a technocratic process, it is a race against time” to be protected from “the greatest threat we face: Russia.”
The “battlefield” of the elections
Moldova’s EU accession, President Maia Sandu warned, has made the country a target for Russia’s “full arsenal of hybrid attacks,” and “the battlefield is our elections.” Last year’s experience was “unprecedented, but democracy prevailed.” Yet she stressed that “the next battle is upon us—the parliamentary elections” on 28 September. With the Kremlin aiming to “capture Moldova through the ballot box,” the EU candidate country risks becoming “a launchpad for hybrid attacks on the European Union.”
Sandu detailed a wide array of electoral manipulation. These range from a vote-buying scheme in which a sanctioned Russian bank opened “138,000 accounts to sway results with direct payments,” to protests “orchestrated on Telegram, with people lured by promises of thousands of euros.” They also include cyberattacks, intimidation of judges by criminal groups, deepfakes of politicians, and “fabricated ‘international’ sites posing as impartial news but serving Kremlin propaganda.” In Gagauzia, “false claims spread that autonomy is under threat,” while in Transnistria, “calls for more polling stations are nothing more than a tactic to fabricate turnout well beyond real voter levels.”
All of this does not concern Moldova alone. “We are the testing ground, but Europe is the target,” Sandu warned. “Crypto schemes tested in Chișinău now help evade EU sanctions and fund Russia’s war machine. Vote-buying schemes tried in Moldova have surfaced elsewhere.” This is why, by defending the upcoming elections, “we protect not only Moldova—but also regional security and stability,” including Ukraine, Eastern Europe and the whole continent.
In the fight against 21st-century threats—where tools designed for peacetime are not always effective—President Sandu offered lessons “from the frontlines of democracy.” These include cutting off illicit financing to protect elections; building “a democracy that delivers” through energy security, market integration, jobs and justice; engaging citizens with “clear information and free media”; strengthening deterrence to make aggression “too costly”; and integrating candidate countries in the defence of democracy.
Highlighting that “Moldova already thinks like a member, acts like a member—and that, too, is part of Europe’s security,” she concluded her speech by addressing her compatriots in Moldovan: “Last year, we showed the whole world that we can stand tall, by voting, in the face of much greater forces.” But now, the decisive step must be taken—”to elect a Parliament that will lead Moldova into the European Union. The future of Moldova depends on the courage and unity with which we go to the polls.”
The state of EU-Moldova relations
One week after the start of Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, on 3 March 2022, Moldova submitted its request for EU membership. On 23 June 2022, the European Council endorsed the European Commission’s recommendation to grant Chișinău candidate status. At the European Council meeting on 14 December 2023, EU leaders gave the green light to open accession negotiations. Following the Council’s approval of the negotiating frameworks, the first intergovernmental conferences were held on 25 June 2024 in Luxembourg.
With the aim of opening the first EU accession negotiation cluster in the first half of 2025, the screening process has been ongoing since last autumn. As recognised by the Council, Chișinău continues to make progress on justice reform, the fight against corruption, and the implementation of the action plan on de-oligarchisation. At the same time, administrative and institutional capacities need to be strengthened at all levels, while advancing transformative economic reforms, enhancing sectoral cooperation, and deepening integration into the EU internal market remain major economic challenges.
As anticipated by Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos, both Moldova and Ukraine “are ready” for Cluster 1 – Fundamentals to be opened. The first group of five negotiating chapters focuses on economic criteria, the functioning of democratic institutions, and public administration reform. Moreover, Commissioner Kos has made it public that two additional screenings have been sent to the Council for both Chișinău and Kiev—on Cluster 2 – ‘Internal Market’ and Cluster 6 – ‘External Relations’. The unanimous approval of all 27 EU member states in the Council is now the only step required.
