Moldovan President Maia Sandu denounced an "an assault on democracy and freedom," as she said criminal groups had bought Moldovan citizens' votes prior to the EU referendum on Sunday.
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00:00Moldovan President Maya Sandu denounced vote buying in the constitutional referendum on
00:07the country's EU accession, which the pro-Europe side won by a narrow margin, 50.4% vs. 49.6%.
00:18Sandu claims that 130,000 people have been paid to vote no by criminal entities, with
00:24voters instructed on how to cast their ballots.
00:54Sandu did not mention Russia or any other foreign actor.
00:58She only envisaged dirty interference trying to block Moldova's path towards EU membership.
01:04But despite her claims, the presidency is not showing any evidence of electoral corruption.
01:10Moldova's main opposition considers instead that it was Sandu's lack of credibility that
01:14dragged down the result of the EU referendum.
01:19The International Election Observation Mission did not report any evidence of vote theft
01:24and corruption at the polling station.
01:26But its report underlines various forms of manipulative interferences to destabilize
01:31the country, elicit financing of political actors, disinformation campaigns and cyber
01:37attacks.
01:38There have also been multifold statements from simple citizens who say, well, quick
01:44money for poor people, that is something that I take.
01:47So that is not something that is hear and say only, but is very concrete.
01:55The European Commission said it had witnessed unprecedented interference by Russia in Moldova
02:01and that Moscow aimed to destabilize the country.