Moldova heads to the polls on Sunday, 28 September, for a parliamentary election that the ruling, pro-EU Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) says will set the country’s trajectory for years.
Igor Grosu, PAS leader and speaker of parliament, cast the vote as “existential,” arguing it is now a choice “between peace and war,” with EU integration on one side and a return to Russia’s sphere on the other.
PAS has governed with a strong majority since 2021 but faces a tighter contest this time. Opinion polling and recent warnings from officials suggest the race has been shaped by alleged Russian interference efforts, adding an additional layer of risk for a government that has prioritised EU accession, anti-corruption measures and infrastructure modernisation. Chişinău has accused Moscow of waging a “hybrid” campaign that includes illicit party financing, cyberattacks and coordinated disinformation. Britain’s Ministry of Defence has also assessed that Russia is “almost certainly” conducting an extensive interference campaign ahead of the vote, a claim Russia rejects.
In recent days Moldovan authorities have intensified enforcement actions. On 22 September, police and anti-corruption bodies carried out more than 200 raids, detaining dozens in connection with an alleged plan to incite mass unrest around the election. Officials say the activity forms part of wider efforts to disrupt the vote through cash-based vote-buying schemes and information operations. Further raids this week led to at least one additional detention over suspected illegal financing via cryptocurrencies. Authorities say they have also faced more than 1,000 cyberattacks on critical systems this year.
Judicial measures have added to the pre-election turbulence. On Thursday the Centru Court of Appeal in Chişinău limited, for 12 months, the activities of the Heart of Moldova (Inima Moldovei) party, part of the Russia-friendly Patriotic Electoral Bloc (BEP). The justice ministry had sought restrictions following earlier searches and allegations of voter bribery and illicit funding. The implications for BEP’s broader campaign remained unclear on Thursday evening.
Regional partners have taken steps of their own. Poland’s foreign ministry announced a five-year entry ban on Irina Vlah, the Heart of Moldova leader and a prominent BEP figure, stating she had “assisted the Russian Federation in interfering in the preparations for the parliamentary elections.” Warsaw’s move followed similar measures by other countries, according to media reports. Vlah denied wrongdoing and described domestic actions against her party as politically motivated.
The campaign has unfolded against the backdrop of high-profile law-enforcement developments. Vladimir Plahotniuc, the fugitive oligarch long associated with Moldova’s “theft of the century” bank fraud case, was extradited from Greece and flown back to Chişinău on Thursday. Local media broadcast his arrival in custody. Authorities accuse him of playing a key role in the 2014–15 $1 billion fraud; he denies the charges. His return places a longstanding corruption case back at the centre of public attention days before the vote.
PAS has set out a platform centred on completing the next steps of EU integration—targeting the signing of an accession treaty by 2028—raising incomes and continuing anti-corruption drives. Moldova became an EU candidate in 2022 and opened accession talks in 2024. Government figures argue that steady progress requires a stable pro-European majority, and that the security context created by Russia’s war in Ukraine increases the strategic importance of alignment with Brussels. The opposition Patriotic Electoral Bloc, by contrast, proposes “permanent neutrality,” promises to “normalise” relations with Russia while keeping dialogue with the EU, and has campaigned on cost-of-living themes and criticism of the government’s record.
The integrity of the information space has been a persistent concern throughout the campaign. Monitoring groups and officials have flagged coordinated online narratives—often amplified via social platforms—aimed at depicting PAS as corrupt or hostile to traditional values, and at sowing distrust in electoral administration. Investigations by international media have also reported efforts to influence public opinion through church networks and social channels. Moscow denies orchestrating such activity and has characterised Chişinău’s allegations as anti-Russian and unsubstantiated.
Sunday’s ballot will fill the 101-seat legislature under the electoral code adopted in 2022. A clear PAS majority would likely be read in Brussels as a mandate to accelerate accession work; a fragmented outcome or an opposition-led coalition could slow or divert the process. With allegations and counter-allegations in play, authorities say they have reinforced safeguards for vote-counting and cybersecurity, and anticipate robust observation by domestic and international monitors.
Moldova’s former power broker Vladimir Plahotniuc extradited from Greece to Chișinău
