Moldovan voters face crossroads between Russia and EU | International

CHISINAU, Sept 22, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Moldovans will vote this week in tense parliamentary elections which its president has called the "most consequential" in the small country's history, as it teeters between its powerful neighbour Russia and the West. Wedged between Ukraine -- currently fighting off a Russian invasion -- and European Union member Romania, Moldova has long been divided over closer ties with Brussels or maintaining Soviet-era relations with Moscow. Most polls so far show President Maia Sandu's pro-EU party, in power since 2021, in the lead in the September 28 vote -- but she accuses the Kremlin of spending hundreds of millions of euros in "dirty money" to interfere in the campaign. There are growing frustrations among the...