MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Early results in Moldova's parliamentary elections are in, with the former Soviet republic rejecting a path that would have returned it to Russia's orbit. NPR's Charles Maynes reports from Moscow.
CHARLES MAYNES, BYLINE: It appears Moldovan President Maia Sandu now has the political capital to advance her country's bid for European Union membership. That alone is a major setback for Moscow, argues Oana Popescu-Zamfir of GlobalFocus Center, an independent think tank.
OANA POPESCU-ZAMFIR: It would really be a very powerful symbol if such a small, poor, resource-stripped country with so many vulnerabilities to Russia did manage after all to craft its own future.
MAYNES: Sandu's ruling Party of Action and Solidarity outperformed polls and will hold its majority in Parliament and move forward with reforms to join the EU bloc by 2030.
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MAYNES: Casting her ballot in Moldova's capital, Chisinau, Sandu said the fate of the country was in voters' hands.
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PRESIDENT MAIA SANDU: If Moldovans will not mobilize enough and if Russia's interference will impact significantly our elections, then Moldova might lose everything it has.
MAYNES: In the run-up to the vote, Sandu accused Russia of trying to sway the election with money, disinformation and fear.
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SANDU: Russia has unleashed its full arsenal of hybrid attacks against us.
MAYNES: Russia has denied those charges, accusing Sandu of stoking anti-Russian sentiment to distract from voters' dissatisfaction in one of Europe's poorest countries. Moldova's election commission barred two pro-Russian parties from the ballot just days before the vote.
(CHEERING)
MAYNES: Yet outside Moldova's embassy in Moscow on Sunday afternoon, the atmosphere - a celebration. The pro-Russian Patriotic party had claimed victory well before polls closed.
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DMITRY PESKOV: (Speaking Russian).
MAYNES: This morning, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also accused Sandu's government of disenfranchising Russia's sizeable Moldovan diaspora in Russia by limiting access to polling stations.
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UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Chanting in non-English language).
MAYNES: Moldova's pro-Russian opposition said it would challenge the outcome of the vote in court, with hundreds of supporters gathering in Chisinau
Charles Maynes, NPR News, Moscow. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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