Moldova bans another pro-Russian party from Sunday’s vote

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CHISINAU (Reuters) -Moldova’s election authority excluded the pro-Russian political party ‘Greater Moldova’ from participating in Sunday’s parliamentary vote due to suspected illegal financing, officials said on Saturday.

The decision was made late on Friday. It is the second pro-Russian party to be excluded within days of the vote, amid concerns over alleged Russian interference, the country’s election process, and the future of Moldova’s EU aspirations.

Moldova’s Central Electoral Commission excluded the Greater Moldova (Moldova Mare) party following findings by police, security, and intelligence officials that the party was using illegal financing and foreign funding, the commission said.

Greater Moldova leader Victoria Furtuna said the decision was biased and she would appeal it, the Moldpress media outlet reported.

The election authority found that the party had used unreported financial resources, and was suspected of providing voters with money in an attempt to sway the outcome.

Officials also suspect that the party was acting as a successor to the previously outlawed party led by pro-Russian fugitive business tycoon Ilan Shor. Shor, who denies all wrongdoing, lives in Moscow.  

Sunday’s parliamentary vote is seen as a turning point for Moldova, a former Soviet republic and a European Union candidate country.

The ruling pro-European Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS), led by President Maia Sandu, has held a parliamentary majority since 2021. But polls show that PAS might lose its majority as opposition parties court voters concerned about the high cost of living, rising poverty and a sluggish economy.

Having to govern in coalition could complicate the PAS’s effort to get Moldova into the EU by 2030, analysts say.

Another pro-Russian party, ‘Heart of Moldova’, part of the pro-Russian Patriotic bloc, was barred from participating in the vote last week.

Russia says it does not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries.

(Reporting by Alexander Tanas, writing by Olena Harmash; Editing by Toby Chopra)