٠٠:٠٣:١٥European Commission (EC) spokesperson Peter Stano condemned Russia for what he claimed was 'unprecedented interference' in the referendum on European integration and presidential election in Moldova, during a press conference in Brussels on Monday.
"We know that this vote took place under the unprecedented interference and intimidation by Russia and its proxies, aiming to destabilise the democratic processes in the Republic of Moldova," he alleged.
"This foreign interference and information manipulation exercised by Russia and its proxies have many faces, and it's happening in many forms, and it's not happening only a few days before the vote, of course. I mean, this is a long-term effort that we have observed a long time ago…," he claimed.
After Sunday's voting, Moldovan President Maia Sandu stated on Monday that her country had faced an 'unprecedented assault on freedom and democracy' by 'criminal groups' in recent months.
"We have clear evidence that these criminal groups aimed to buy 300,000 votes – a fraud of unprecedented scale. Their objective was to undermine a democratic process. Their intention is to spread fear and panic in the society," the head of state reported on her X account (formerly Twitter).
Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitri Peskov stated that Sandu needs to 'show proof' of her claims and in turn suggested that the surge in support for Sandu and the referendum on further EU integration 'raises a lot of questions'.
"The first thing we see is a 'mechanical', difficult-to-explain increase in the number of votes in favour of Sandu and in favour of the European Union. In fact, any observer who understands the nature of political processes can see these anomalies in the increase in votes," Peskov claimed.
Stano said that the EU members 'are waiting for the final announcement' of the official results for both votes from observers before a 'formal reaction.'
"Before pronouncing ourselves about the result and about analysis of the result, let's wait until the assessment of those who were observing not only the vote yesterday, but also the process, and that was the electoral observation mission sent out by the OSCE ODIHR there. And then we can discuss further," he said.
The first round of the presidential election and the referendum on a constitutional change allowing accession to the European Union took place at 1,987 polling stations in Moldova and at 231 polling stations in 37 countries.
Eleven candidates are running for the presidency, including incumbent leader Maia Sandu. In the EU referendum, voters were asked if they back amending the constitution to allow the country to join the EU.
According to the Moldovan Central Election Commission, the total turnout was 51.68 percent. According to preliminary results, Sandu was in the lead with 42.45 percent of the vote, followed by the country's former prosecutor general Alexandru Stoianoglo with 25.98 percent.
The results of the referendum were 50.46 percent in favour of the change and 49.54 percent against at the time of publication.
Moldova submitted an application for EU membership in March 2022, following the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, while the start of accession talks were announced last December.
A presidential runoff is scheduled for November 3.
'Unprecedented interference!' - EC spox accuses Russia of trying to 'destabilise democratic process' in Moldova
European Commission (EC) spokesperson Peter Stano condemned Russia for what he claimed was 'unprecedented interference' in the referendum on European integration and presidential election in Moldova, during a press conference in Brussels on Monday.
"We know that this vote took place under the unprecedented interference and intimidation by Russia and its proxies, aiming to destabilise the democratic processes in the Republic of Moldova," he alleged.
"This foreign interference and information manipulation exercised by Russia and its proxies have many faces, and it's happening in many forms, and it's not happening only a few days before the vote, of course. I mean, this is a long-term effort that we have observed a long time ago…," he claimed.
After Sunday's voting, Moldovan President Maia Sandu stated on Monday that her country had faced an 'unprecedented assault on freedom and democracy' by 'criminal groups' in recent months.
"We have clear evidence that these criminal groups aimed to buy 300,000 votes – a fraud of unprecedented scale. Their objective was to undermine a democratic process. Their intention is to spread fear and panic in the society," the head of state reported on her X account (formerly Twitter).
Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitri Peskov stated that Sandu needs to 'show proof' of her claims and in turn suggested that the surge in support for Sandu and the referendum on further EU integration 'raises a lot of questions'.
"The first thing we see is a 'mechanical', difficult-to-explain increase in the number of votes in favour of Sandu and in favour of the European Union. In fact, any observer who understands the nature of political processes can see these anomalies in the increase in votes," Peskov claimed.
Stano said that the EU members 'are waiting for the final announcement' of the official results for both votes from observers before a 'formal reaction.'
"Before pronouncing ourselves about the result and about analysis of the result, let's wait until the assessment of those who were observing not only the vote yesterday, but also the process, and that was the electoral observation mission sent out by the OSCE ODIHR there. And then we can discuss further," he said.
The first round of the presidential election and the referendum on a constitutional change allowing accession to the European Union took place at 1,987 polling stations in Moldova and at 231 polling stations in 37 countries.
Eleven candidates are running for the presidency, including incumbent leader Maia Sandu. In the EU referendum, voters were asked if they back amending the constitution to allow the country to join the EU.
According to the Moldovan Central Election Commission, the total turnout was 51.68 percent. According to preliminary results, Sandu was in the lead with 42.45 percent of the vote, followed by the country's former prosecutor general Alexandru Stoianoglo with 25.98 percent.
The results of the referendum were 50.46 percent in favour of the change and 49.54 percent against at the time of publication.
Moldova submitted an application for EU membership in March 2022, following the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, while the start of accession talks were announced last December.
A presidential runoff is scheduled for November 3.
European Commission (EC) spokesperson Peter Stano condemned Russia for what he claimed was 'unprecedented interference' in the referendum on European integration and presidential election in Moldova, during a press conference in Brussels on Monday.
"We know that this vote took place under the unprecedented interference and intimidation by Russia and its proxies, aiming to destabilise the democratic processes in the Republic of Moldova," he alleged.
"This foreign interference and information manipulation exercised by Russia and its proxies have many faces, and it's happening in many forms, and it's not happening only a few days before the vote, of course. I mean, this is a long-term effort that we have observed a long time ago…," he claimed.
After Sunday's voting, Moldovan President Maia Sandu stated on Monday that her country had faced an 'unprecedented assault on freedom and democracy' by 'criminal groups' in recent months.
"We have clear evidence that these criminal groups aimed to buy 300,000 votes – a fraud of unprecedented scale. Their objective was to undermine a democratic process. Their intention is to spread fear and panic in the society," the head of state reported on her X account (formerly Twitter).
Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitri Peskov stated that Sandu needs to 'show proof' of her claims and in turn suggested that the surge in support for Sandu and the referendum on further EU integration 'raises a lot of questions'.
"The first thing we see is a 'mechanical', difficult-to-explain increase in the number of votes in favour of Sandu and in favour of the European Union. In fact, any observer who understands the nature of political processes can see these anomalies in the increase in votes," Peskov claimed.
Stano said that the EU members 'are waiting for the final announcement' of the official results for both votes from observers before a 'formal reaction.'
"Before pronouncing ourselves about the result and about analysis of the result, let's wait until the assessment of those who were observing not only the vote yesterday, but also the process, and that was the electoral observation mission sent out by the OSCE ODIHR there. And then we can discuss further," he said.
The first round of the presidential election and the referendum on a constitutional change allowing accession to the European Union took place at 1,987 polling stations in Moldova and at 231 polling stations in 37 countries.
Eleven candidates are running for the presidency, including incumbent leader Maia Sandu. In the EU referendum, voters were asked if they back amending the constitution to allow the country to join the EU.
According to the Moldovan Central Election Commission, the total turnout was 51.68 percent. According to preliminary results, Sandu was in the lead with 42.45 percent of the vote, followed by the country's former prosecutor general Alexandru Stoianoglo with 25.98 percent.
The results of the referendum were 50.46 percent in favour of the change and 49.54 percent against at the time of publication.
Moldova submitted an application for EU membership in March 2022, following the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, while the start of accession talks were announced last December.
A presidential runoff is scheduled for November 3.