Russia is furious after Moldova narrowly voted to join the European Union following an exceptionally tight referendum.
As of late on Monday morning, 50.3% of Moldovan voters have confirmed they want to join the EU only just seeing off the 49.7% who oppose it.
This result means Moldova’s government can now change its constitution to include the principle of joining the EU after its accession talks wrap up. Moldovan officials are hoping to be part of the bloc by 2030.
The knife-edge result did still come as a shock though, considering early predictions suggested an overwhelming proportion of voters would want to join the bloc.
According to Reuters news agency, Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was quick to condemn the result.
Speaking on Monday morning, he said: “What we see is a mechanically hard-to-explain rate of increase in votes in favour of Sandu and in favour of those referendum participants who favoured an EU orientation.”
Suggesting the election campaign was “unfree”, he claimed the opposition were “persecuted, they were thrown in prisons, they were interrogated, they were not allowed into the country, the media were closed, internet resources were blocked and so on”.
His remarks come after pro-Western president Maia Sandu told an emergency press conference – held after polls closed when votes were still being counted – that she blamed the unexpectedly large “no” vote on “foreign forces” trying to use bribes and propaganda to sway the outcome.
She said these unnamed forces had tried to buy up 300,000 votes amid “unprecedented” outside interference.
And while Sandu did not name Russia directly, others did.
Romanian MEP Siegfried Muresan – chair of the parliament’s liaison committee for Moldova’s accession – said that the outcome “represents a victory for the people of the Republic of Moldova and a defeat for Russia”.
Moldovan police also previously announced they have seized money and documents allegedly linked to Russian-backed groups looking to confuse the voting process.
The Kremlin has subsequently been accused of buying votes, sending money through proxies into the accounts of ordinary votes to sway them and spreading fears over the EU on social media.
Responding to Sandu’s claim that criminal groups interfered, Peskov said: “First of all, she doesn’t say what she’s talking about.”
According to Russian state news agency TASS, the spokesperson continued: “Secondly, these are quite serious accusations against these ‘criminal groups’, and the public should be presented with some evidence. If she says that she is short of votes because of some ‘criminal groups’, then she should present evidence.
“It would be great [if] Sandu could explain such a number of votes that disagree with her line. Are they also ‘criminal groups’?
“Or does she mean that Moldovan citizens who do not support her are associated with ‘criminal groups’? There are many nuances here.”
Modlova – a former Soviet state – applied to join the EU after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but Russia is reluctant to let it go as it sits in a strategic position between Ukraine and the Black Sea.
The referendum comes as incumbent president Sandu is fighting it out in the presidential elections against a candidate supported by pro-Russian Party Of Socialists.
She has a narrow lead to secure a second term but no overall majority yet.