“Under normal circumstances, this election campaign should be very favorable to the incumbents. Opinion polls show that, as of today, we would almost have a majority,” said Nicu Popescu, Moldova’s former deputy minister who is running as a PAS parliamentary candidate.
“But of course there are hybrid attacks, there’s non-digital aggression, you have Russia smuggling in millions and millions in cash to buy votes on a very large scale. So, while I’m confident, every vote will matter.”
Getting in
In Chisinau, Merz, Macron and Tusk will want to signal to Moldovan voters that their country’s future lies with the EU.
Their presence “sends a powerful message ― Moldova is not alone,” said Siegfried Mureșan, a Romanian MEP and chair of the European Parliament’s delegation to the country. “Its European path is real, irreversible, and backed by all major political families in the EU.”
However, the exact timing of when Moldova joins the EU — and takes a crucial step known as opening a negotiating “cluster” — remains controversial. Earlier in the summer, EU officials and diplomats told POLITICO the bloc was considering fast-tracking Moldova’s bid by opening a negotiating cluster before the election to spur the pro-EU camp.
But Ukraine and many of its allies are deeply opposed to such a move. And the fact that U.S. President Donald Trump has now prevailed on Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán — who opposes Ukraine’s EU membership, but has indicated he would support that of Moldova — to lift his hold on Kyiv’s joining the bloc has changed the dynamic, one diplomat said.