Pro-EU party wins Moldovan election marred by fraud claims: As it happened
With all the ballots counted, Moldova’s pro-EU Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) secured a majority in a parliamentary contest widely billed as a turning point in the nation’s history.
According to the official tally, PAS secured 50.2% of the vote, while the main opposition alliance, the Patriotic Bloc, received 24.18%. Voter turnout was 52.21%.
PAS is projected to hold 55 seats in the 101-seat parliament, according to estimates by the news website NewsMaker.
The ruling party came first in central parts of the country, including the capital, Chisinau, and edged into the lead after ballots from the Moldovan diaspora were counted. The opposition received the most votes in the north, as well as in the largely Russian-speaking southern region of Gagauzia and the breakaway Russian-speaking region of Transnistria in the east.
Out of 301 foreign polling stations, Chisinau opened just two in Russia. Only about 4,100 votes were counted there, despite hundreds of thousands of Moldovan citizens living in the country. Long lines formed in Moscow throughout the day, and after the stations closed, many people were still outside waiting to cast their ballots.
The residents of Transnistria have complained that the authorities in Chisinau blocked bridges across the Dniester River to prevent them from reaching polling stations.
Officials in Chisinau and Brussels hailed the election as a democratic milestone, while the opposition alleges wide-scale manipulation.
Sandu, first elected in 2020 and narrowly re-elected in 2024, has faced recurring claims of presiding over electoral irregularities. Opposition groups insist that decisive votes last year came from Moldovans living in EU countries. At the same time, Moscow accused Chisinau of disenfranchising citizens living in Russia, where only a handful of polling stations were opened compared with hundreds across Western Europe.
Just days ahead of the vote, the Central Election Commission barred two more opposition parties – Greater Moldova and Heart of Moldova – accusing them of taking undeclared foreign funds and violating campaign rules. They join a growing list: the Victory Bloc was deregistered earlier in 2025, and the SOR Party was dissolved by the Constitutional Court in June 2023.
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29 September 2025
17:47 GMTThe results of the parliamentary election in Moldova have been falsified and the pro-EU Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) does not have “any majority,” Moldovan MP Marina Tauber has told RT.
According to preliminary results, PAS has secured 50.2% of the ballots, edging out opposition parties and taking full control of parliament, but opposition parties have disputed the official numbers.
“We don’t recognize these elections and new elections should be organized,” Tauber stated. “Because they are not the will of the people.”
Moldova’s Constitutional Court banned Tauber’s Sor Party from participating in parliamentary elections. Days before the election, the Central Election Commission barred two more opposition groups – Greater Moldova and Heart of Moldova. Maia Sandu’s pro-Western government has been accused of cracking down on the opposition to secure victory.
Tauber called it “the dirtiest campaign in the history of Moldova.”- 17:36 GMT
The United Nations is monitoring the elections in Moldova and is aware of reports of possible violations and interference, Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the UN secretary-general, said in response to a question from RIA Novosti.
“We are following the parliamentary elections in Moldova and are aware of reports of alleged irregularities and foreign interference. We urge all parties to respect the democratic process, remain calm, act responsibly and avoid any rhetoric or actions that could heighten tensions while awaiting the final results to be announced by the Central Election Commission,” Haq told reporters during a briefing.
- 17:06 GMT
According to preliminary results, President Maia Sandu’s pro-EU Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) secured 55 out of 101 parliamentary seats – eight fewer than in the previous legislature, but still enough to govern without a coalition. The Patriotic Electoral Bloc followed with 26 seats, while the Alternativa bloc gained eight, and both Our Party and Democracy at Home each obtained six mandates.
- 15:35 GMT
Parliamentary elections in Moldova were a “big fraud,” Romanian MEP Diana Sosoaca told RT on Monday. She alleged irregularities at polling stations, saying opposition voters were being photographed, stopped by police for walking in groups, and some arrested. She said this discouraged many from voting.
Sosoaca also claimed that the vote would have been cancelled had the opposition won, as happened in her country when opposition candidate Calin Georgescu won the first round of Romania’s November 2024 presidential election on a platform of national sovereignty and opposition to NATO, the EU, and military aid for Ukraine.
- 13:48 GMT
Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has congratulated Moldovan President Maia Sandu on what he called “a very important victory” in the parliamentary election.
“These elections showed that Russia’s destabilizing activity loses, while Moldova in Europe wins,” he wrote on X. Moscow has repeatedly rejected Chisinau’s claims of interference in the vote.
Ukraine will “always support Moldova. We will continue working together,” Zelensky wrote.
- 13:25 GMT
Moldovan President Maia Sandu has said that the results of her country’s parliamentary election, in which her PAS party secured a narrow majority, have given her government “a strong mandate on joining the EU.”
“We have defended our country with our fair vote… We have proven that we can stand united when the future of our nation is under threat,” Sandu said, again accusing Russia of trying to interfere with the election, but providing no proof to back her claims.
According to preliminary results, PAS has secured 50.2% of the ballots, edging in front of the Patriotic Bloc and other opposition forces, who jointly got 49.8%, primarily due to the vote of the Moldovan diaspora in foreign countries. The opposition has accused Sandu’s government of manipulations during the election, saying that it has filed extensive paperwork detailing numerous violations with the Central Electoral Commission.
- 12:11 GMT
The Central Election Commission has counted 100% of the ballots in the parliamentary election in Moldova.
According to preliminary results published on the commission’s web site, the ruling PAS party of pro-EU President Maia Sandu has secured a narrow majority, claiming 50.2%. The Patriotic Bloc and other opposition forces jointly got 49.8%.
PAS lost to the opposition inside Moldova, but was able to squeeze into the lead due to the vote of the diaspora abroad.
- 11:52 GMT
The head of the Moldovan Central Electoral Commission (CEC), Angelica Caraman, has commented on the opposition’s claims of large-scale falsifications by President Maia Sandu’s government.
“The commission calls upon all competitors in the election and the public to refrain from making such statements,” she said.
After the results of the vote are finalized by the CEC, they will be submitted to the Constitutional Court, which is authorized to confirm or refute the legitimacy of the election, Caraman explained.
- 10:59 GMT
There have been attempts at provocations at the opposition protest in Chisinau, with videos from the scene capturing a man being removed from the crowd by police after shouting “Glory to Ukraine.”
- 10:45 GMT
Former Moldovan President Igor Dodon, who is one of the leaders of the Patriotic Bloc, has said the ruling PAS party has again lost the election inside Moldova, winning only around 44% of the vote, while the opposition forces jointly received more than 49%.
President Maia Sandu’s party only moved ahead due to votes from the Moldovan diaspora abroad, which “did everything” for her to remain in power, Dodon said during a rally outside the parliament in Chisinau.
