Maia Sandu wins Moldova's presidential election and the country turns towards Europeanism

Maia Sandu has won the presidential elections in Moldova, signalling a shift towards Europeanism in the country.

Maia Sandu beat Alexandru Stoianoglo, a political leader closer to Vladimir Putin's Russia, which means Moldova is moving closer to the West. This is all the more so given that a constitutional amendment was approved with a view to the nation's accession to the European Union.

After a first round of presidential elections held on 20 October 2024, in which none of the candidates managed to pass the threshold of 50 % of the votes and exceeded the 33 % turnout, as stipulated by Moldovan electoral law, the two most voted were, in this case, the current president of Moldova, the pro-European and Coudenhove-Kalergi Prize winner Maia Sandu, from the centre-right Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS), with 656,852 votes (42.49% of voters), and the candidate closest to Russia, Alexandru Stoianoglo, from the Party of Socialists of Moldova, who obtained 401,215 (25.95% of the total votes) in the first round.

Of the eleven candidates in total who ran in the elections, the third and fourth most voted were respectively the president of the political formation Our Party, the businessman and former mayor of the city of Bălți, Renato Usatîi, with 213,169 (13.79 % of the votes) and the former governor of the autonomous region of Gagauzia, Irina Vlah, who obtained 83,193, or 5.38 % of the total.

A national referendum was also held on 20 October with the following question:

Susțineți modificarea Constituției în vederea aderării Republicii Moldova la Uniunea Europeană, i.e. Are you in favour of amending the Constitution with a view to the accession of the Republic of Moldova to the European Union).

The voting options were ‘Yes’ and ‘No’. The ‘Yes’ in favour of amending the Constitution with a view to EU accession won by a narrow margin: 50.38% in favour of a ‘Yes’ vote against 49.62% in favour of a ‘No’ vote.

The referendum was boycotted by pro-Russian Moldovan politicians such as presidential candidates Alexandru Stoianoglo and Renato Usatîi, as well as former president Igor Dodon.

In Moldova as a whole, the situation would have been very even, with 692,533 votes (51.19 %) against 660,226 votes (48.81 %), but once again it was Moldovans living abroad who gave their decisive support to the pro-European candidate, Maia Sandu, who obtained 82.03 % of the votes of this large group, that is, 236,313 voters against 51,781 (17.97 %) for Alexandru Stoianoglo.

The final result of the elections gives the winner of the elections to the pro-European candidate Maia Sandu, who obtained 930,512 (55.41 %) of the votes against Alexandr Stoianoglo, who would lose the elections with 748,781 (44.59 %) of the support in the electoral contest for the presidency of the country. The total number of voters was 1,679,293 with 99.86 % of the vote count completed (pending three polling stations out of 2,219 total).

Alexandru Stoianoglo has maintained a balanced position in terms of being in favour of the country's accession to the European Union, but without breaking with Russia, something that in the light of the war in Ukraine and taking into account that part of its territory, Transnistria, there is a Russian military occupation contingent of approximately 2,000 soldiers in this region, which broke with Moldova in the 1990s and whose conflict is frozen.

This result is a boost to Moldova's aspirations to join the European Union.

It should be recalled that the EU-Moldova Association Agreement entered into force on 1 July 2016, following its provisional application on 1 September 2014. This agreement makes it possible for Moldova to enjoy a deep and comprehensive free trade area. In addition, the Republic of Moldova applied for EU membership in March 2022 and was granted EU candidate country status in June 2022. The European Union held its first intergovernmental conference with Moldova in June 2024.

The EU-Moldova Association Agreement establishes a formal body, the so-called Association Council, which meets regularly to monitor the implementation of the agreement. On 21 May 2024, the eighth meeting of the Association Council took place, where issues related to political dialogue, reforms, cooperation and convergence in foreign and security policy and economic matters were discussed.

In the context of Russia's military aggression against Ukraine, between 2022 and 2024, the European Union has granted 71 million euros for Moldova for humanitarian assistance to help civilians affected by the war in Ukraine.

The EU is also an important security and defence partner for Moldova. In May 2024 the country signed a Security and Defence Partnership Agreement with the EU. There is also an EU Cooperation Mission in action since April 2023 to support Moldova in crisis management related to hybrid and cyber security threats. Between 2021 and 2024, the Union has granted Moldova €137 million through the European Peace Facility to modernise its Armed Forces.

It is worth noting that the EU is the largest provider of financial assistance and since 2021 has provided more than EUR 2.2 billion (on 10 October 2024, the EU approved a plan worth EUR 1.8 billion with the aim of accelerating the accession process and speeding up reforms and mechanisms to achieve social and economic convergence. There is also a temporary trade liberalisation that was adopted by the Council in 2022 through a regulation that has been extended until 24 July 2025, liberalising trade in seven agricultural products (tomatoes, garlic, table grapes, apples, cherries, plums and grape juice), allowing them to double their exports to the European Union without tariffs. In the energy fields, on 16 March 2022 the electricity grids of Ukraine and Moldova were successfully synchronised with the European continental grid.

The Council adopted on 28 April 2023 a new legal framework for targeted restrictive measures allowing the EU to impose sanctions on persons responsible for supporting or implementing actions that undermine or threaten: Moldova's independence and security, as well as its democracy, rule of law, security and stability. As a result, a sanctions regime applies to 16 persons and 2 entities (this has been extended until 29 April 2025).

The EU and Moldova also cooperate in the context of the Eastern Partnership with the aim of strengthening their relations in both the political and economic fields.

Both the result of the referendum of 20 October and the result of the presidential elections confirm the irreversible will of the Moldovan people to join the European Union, in short, the European family that is committed to democracy, the rule of law, freedom, solidarity, peace and a world in which international law and multilateral cooperation are the driving force behind its external action in the face of a world that is committed to confrontation, nationalism, authoritarianism and disrespect for the principles of international legality.

Carlos Uriarte Sánchez, Secretary General of Paneuropa España, member of the Council of the Presidency of the International Pan-European Union and Vice-President of the European Coudenhove-Kalergi Society.