By Ekaterina Janashia | 2025-09-29

The pro-European Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) has secured a decisive victory in Moldova's parliamentary elections, fending off a strong challenge from pro-Russian rivals in a vote widely seen as a referendum on the nation's future geopolitical direction.

The result is a firm mandate for President Maia Sandu's government to continue its path toward European Union (EU) integration amidst what officials described as unprecedented Russian interference.

After casting her ballot on Sunday, President Sandu renewed her sharp claim that Russia had "massively interfered" in the election. She said she voted "to keep the peace" and firmly insisted that Moldova's future lies within the EU.

Turnout was over 52%, higher than in recent years, BBC reported.

On Monday, with 99.91% of votes counted, the pro-EU PAS headed by President Sandu stood a little over to 50%, well ahead of the pro-Russian Patriotic Bloc, which secured approximately 24.19%.

"Moldovans, you have made history!" the country's former Prime Minister Ion Sturza wrote on his Facebook page. "You are the first to defeat the Russians in a new kind of war. Thank you!"

A 'loud and clear' message

European leaders swiftly hailed the result as a victory for the entire continent.

"Russia failed to destabilize Moldova even after spending huge, huge resources to undermine it and to corrupt whoever they could," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

"You made your choice clear: Europe. Democracy. Freedom. Our door is open. And we will stand with you every step of the way. The future is yours," European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X.

The victory of Moldova's pro-EU ruling party was a message of defiance against Russian meddling, European Union chief Antonio Costa said Monday.

"The people of Moldova have spoken and their message is loud and clear. They chose democracy, reform and a European future, in the face of pressure and interference from Russia," Costa wrote on X. "The EU stands with Moldova. Every step of the way."

"It took real courage of the Moldovan nation and Maia Sandu personally to win this election," Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in a social media post.

"Not only did you save democracy and kept the European course but you have also stopped Russia in its attempts to take control over the whole region. A good lesson for us all."

'At a crossroads'

Wedged between war-torn Ukraine and EU-member Romania, Moldova has been fiercely divided since its 1991 independence over whether to forge closer ties with Brussels or maintain Soviet-era relations with Moscow.

While the incumbent party's support slightly decreased from its 52.8% win in 2021, analysts suggest it has nonetheless secured enough for a fragile majority to continue its push for EU integration.

"Statistically speaking PAS has guaranteed a fragile majority," analyst Andrei Curararu of the Chisinau-based think tank WatchDog.md told AFP Sunday.

Voter Natalia Sandu, 34, homemaker of Chisinau said the election was "important because we're at a crossroads”.

"Our hope, and our expectation, is that we will stay on the European path," she told AFP. "The alternative is unthinkable, I refuse to even imagine sliding back into the past."

Earlier, on Friday, Sandu called the vote Moldova's "most consequential election."

"Its outcome will decide whether we consolidate our democracy and join the EU, or whether Russia drags us back into a grey zone, making us a regional risk," she wrote in a post on X.

"Moldova is another example of how, after the start of the war, Russia -- which assumed it would intimidate its neighbors and strengthen control over them -- is, on the contrary, losing influence," Shota Utiashvili, the Senior Fellow at the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International studies, told Kontur.

"The example of Moldova, as experience shows, can be contagious. This is a victory for Ukraine and the West in general."

Significant challenges

The new PAS government will face significant challenges, including the ongoing conflict in neighboring Ukraine, energy security and the need to implement the extensive reforms required for EU membership.

Tornike Sharashenidze, a full-time professor and Head of the BA and MA Programs of International Affairs at the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA), noted that high voter turnout was primarily driven by the overseas diaspora, whose overwhelming vote for the incumbent pro-EU party proved critical to securing the PAS majority.

"Unfortunately, the Kremlin's propaganda works very well, and a large number of Moldovan citizens still support pro-Russian powers," he told Kontur.

"Those pro-Russian parties, their supporters and those who are against Sandu's policy are not going anywhere; they are going to stay in the country for decades," he said. "So, despite the victory, the country is going to remain divided, and this is a huge challenge for Moldova."

"The Kremlin has bankrolled too big of an operation to stand down and could resort to protests, bribing PAS MPs and other tactics to disrupt forming a stable pro-European government," Curararu added.

Sharashenidze noted that the pro-Russian population and Soviet sentiments in Moldova's breakaway region, Transnistria, are a significant obstacle to the country's EU accession.

"The EU already made it clear that Moldova could not enter the union until it resolves the problem with Transnistria," he said.

However, with a clear mandate from the electorate, the pro-EU forces in Moldova are poised to accelerate their efforts to integrate the nation into the European family.

"No attempt to sow fear or division could break your resolve," von der Leyen said Monday while congratulating the Moldovan people on the election results.