Russian offers cash to voters to keep Moldova out of the EU

Chisinau: Moldovans are being urged to shun “thieves, fugitives and bandits” after an exiled pro-Russian business magnate pledged to pay voters to vote “no” in a referendum on joining the European Union.

Infrastructure Minister Andrei Spinu’s warning underscored the increasingly unruly campaign for the October 20 presidential election in which pro-European incumbent Maia Sandu is seeking a second term.

Voters will also take part in a referendum on altering the Constitution to enable ex-Soviet Moldova, one of Europe’s poorest countries, to press for membership of the 27-nation EU. The country of 3 million is wedged between southern Ukraine, near Odesa, and Romania.

Much of Moldova’s capital Chisinau has had to be rebuilt repeatedly thanks to the wars and conflicts of the 20th century.Credit: iStock

The most vocal opponent of EU membership, fugitive pro-Russian businessman Ilan Shor, offered in a weekend Telegram post to pay voters the equivalent of $42 if they registered for his campaign.

He said voters would get larger rewards if they cast “no” ballots in the referendum and if results showed they lived in electoral districts rejecting the proposal.

Israel-born Shor, who holds Russian, Israeli and Moldovan nationalities, was sentenced to 15 years in prison last year in absentia in connection with his role in the disappearance of $US1 billion ($1.4 billion) from Moldova’s banking system.

Exiled in Russia, the 37-year-old now heads the Victory election bloc, but is barred from taking part in the campaign.

President Maia Sandu signs the decree initiating Moldova’s EU accession negotiations, in Chisinau in June.Credit: Presidency/AP

Spinu, who besides being minister, heads Sandu’s re-election campaign team, said opponents of the president’s EU drive were “using money to buy votes and people”.

“They are using propaganda to spread lies about the European Union and frighten people with all sorts of tall tales,” he wrote on Telegram. “Let us not believe thieves, fugitives and bandits.”

Sandu, who denounces Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and views Moscow as one of the biggest threats facing Moldova, also told voters in a Saturday address to be on guard against fraud.

“The liars are now trying to intimidate us and oblige us to take decisions other than those that we want,” she said. “We must not let them decide our own fate.”

In recent days, paint has been daubed on buildings belonging to Moldova’s state-owned broadcaster, the Supreme Court and two other state institutions. Police blame the incidents on a group trained in Moscow to destabilise the election.

Sandu is favoured to win the presidential vote against 10 challengers, with a recent poll crediting her with about 27 per cent support. That poll put backing for EU membership at 56 per cent among decided voters with 34 per cent opposed.

Reuters