MOSCOW, November 5. /TASS/. Hundreds of thousands of Moldovans living in Russia were denied the right to vote in the Moldovan presidential election, which could not fail to impact the results, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the media.
"We can objectively assess these elections. There are hundreds of thousands of Moldovan citizens living in Russia — not just tens of thousands, but several hundred thousand. These citizens were not given the opportunity to exercise their right to vote," Peskov pointed out.
"In fact, a large portion of the population of the country was unable to vote, unlike Moldovan citizens working in European countries. Naturally, this could not have had no effect on the election results, which, therefore, cannot be considered legitimate," Peskov added.
He stressed that the Moldovan election was "neither democratic nor fair" and was "fraught with electoral manipulations." Peskov also pointed out that a majority of Moldova’s population did not vote for President Maia Sandu, signaling a serious societal divide that "will inevitably continue."
"As for the current Moldovan leadership, it appears they will continue on the same path. So far, they have shown no interest in improving relations with our country. On the contrary, they have been the architects of policies aimed at curtailing interaction with us, pressuring our media, sterilizing the information space in their country, and blocking any information flows from Russia. This, of course, is a clear violation of the rights of their citizens to access diverse information," Peskov said.
He also addressed the accusations from Moldovan President Maia Sandu’s national security advisor, Stanislav Secrieru, who claimed that Moscow allegedly interfered in the presidential election runoff.
"There was no interference. There could not have been any. We have no presence in Moldova. Even the Moldovan opposition faces illegal attacks and pressure. There have been arrests, searches, and much more. What does Russia have to do with all this? This is the result of the undemocratic and authoritarian policies of the current Moldovan leadership," Peskov noted. "We were not involved in the organization of voting within Russia either. The fact that only two polling stations were opened was a decision made by the Moldovan authorities. It has nothing to do with us."
"Therefore, of course, we hear such baseless accusations, but we have never heard any credible reproaches based on verifiable information," the Kremlin spokesman stressed.
Moldovan election
On Sunday, Moldova held the second round of its presidential elections. According to the Central Election Commission (CEC), after reviewing 100% of the vote count, Maia Sandu received 55.33% of the vote, while her opponent, former Prosecutor General Alexander Stoianoglo, garnered 44.67%. At polling stations within Moldova, Stoianoglo led with 51% after all votes were counted. The opposition, represented by the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova, called Sandu an illegitimate president, recognized only by her "foreign sponsors and patrons." Sandu declared victory, while Stoianoglo urged his supporters to remain calm.