By Alexander Tanas
CHISINAU (Reuters) – Pro-Kremlin forces are meddling in Moldova’s upcoming presidential election by paying off tens of thousands of voters in a sweeping plot to derail Chisinau’s bid for closer European Union ties, police said on Thursday.
Incumbent Maia Sandu has portrayed the Oct. 20 contest as a test of her pro-European politics. It will be held alongside a referendum asking voters whether Moldova should be able to join the bloc.
Sandu, who is seeking a second term, has long accused Russia of attempting to overthrow her government through various means, a charge Moscow denies.
National police chief Viorel Cernautanu said more than 130,000 Moldovans had been bribed by a Russia-managed network to vote against the referendum and in favour of Russia-friendly candidates in what he called an “unprecedented, direct attack”.
“We are faced with the widespread phenomenon of financing and corruption with the aim of disrupting the electoral process in Moldova,” Cernautanu told reporters.
He added that around $15 million had been transferred in September alone to accounts that had been opened at Russia’s Promsvyazbank.
The most vocal opponent of EU membership, fugitive pro-Russian businessman Ilan Shor, who was convicted last year in absentia for his role in the theft of $1 billion from Moldovan banks, offered payments last month to anyone who voted against European integration in the referendum.
Moldova, which has a Romanian-speaking majority and large Russian-speaking minority, has alternated between pro-Russian and pro-Western governments since the 1991 break-up of the Soviet Union.
A record 11 candidates are standing in this month’s contest.
(Reporting by Alexander Tanas; Writing by Dan Peleschuk; Editing by Alex Richardson)
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