Estonian parlt committee chair: Kremlin actively trying to interfere in Moldovan elections

TALLINN – Chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the Estonian parliament Marko Mihkelson, whoc is on a working visit to Moldova, said after a conversation with Moldovan President Maia Sandu that Moscow was actively trying to interfere in the local elections taking place in Moldova on Sunday.

"In a conversation with Moldovan President Maia Sandu, I asked about the impact of tomorrow's local elections on future developments," Mihkelson wrote on social media on Saturday. "Russia is very actively trying to influence the results here by using criminal groups to buy voters' votes."

According to Mihkelson, the local intelligence service published a 32-page report on Friday that proved Russia's active interference in the election.

"Allegedly, the Kremlin has invested at least 55 million dollars in dirty money through covert channels to influence the mood of voters," he added.

Based on this information, the Moldovan government also made a decision on Friday to remove a pro-Russian electoral alliance from Sunday's elections, which affects the participation of about 600 candidates.

Speaking at a parliamentary forum held in Chisinau on Saturday, Mihkelson said that Estonia has been supporting Moldova's progress towards the European Union for many years and will do everything to make this journey a success.

"At the same time, I emphasized that when Estonia joined 20 years ago, there was peace in Europe. But now we are in a war that Russia is waging against Ukraine, one of the European Union's membership candidates. I said that Moldova's success in the accession talks depends on whether the West can help Ukraine win or not. If we lose, so will Moldova and all of Europe. So the keys to Moldova's success are tied to the final outcome of the war in Ukraine," Mihkelson said in his post.