The US national security communications adviser John Kirby stated that democracy in Moldova is strong and that Russia has failed to undermine it. He noted that the Kremlin actively worked to influence the vote, but the results demonstrated the European aspirations of Moldovan citizens.
“The results today indicate that Moldova has voted in favor of the national referendum on EU membership, which is a historic step forward in Moldova’s European integration. As for the presidential election, President Sandu received more than 42 percent of the vote in the first round, and this will head now to a runoff on November 3rd.
As I warned about last week, Russia has been working actively to undermine Moldova’s election and their European integration. In the past several months, Moscow has dedicated millions of dollars towards these efforts. Now, Russia did not succeed. As the results demonstrate, Moldovan democracy is strong, as is the will and desire of the Moldovan people to advance toward European integration.
The U.S. remains a proud partner of Moldova, and we will continue to stand with them as they endeavor to continue to protect their democracy and, quite frankly, to reach the aspirations of the Moldovan people,” John Kirby said.
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The US State Department’s Principal Deputy Assistant Spokesman Vedant Patel congratulated Moldovan citizens. There had been “malicious cyber activities” in the context of electoral activity.
“We would commend the Moldovan people for their participation in the October 20th election and referendum. And as we approach the second round of presidential elections on November 3rd, we’ll continue to support Moldova’s commitment to ensuring a credible and democratic process.
As it relates to the second part of your question, we and other international election observers noted some reports of malicious cyber activity, disinformation, and other things that are consistent with what we’ve seen the Kremlin do elsewhere and what the Kremlin has supported in its intent to undermine Moldova’s sovereignty. But in terms of the results as it relates to the referendum, Alex, we also congratulate Moldova for the passage of the referendum, ensuring the EU path in their constitution. Our viewpoint continues to be that Moldova’s future is in Europe. As it relates to these allegations, we certainly would want them to be investigated and resolved through appropriate transparent legal processes, but I’m not going to speculate any more on that,” Patel said.