2024 Moldovan European Union membership referendum
Earlier, Sandu had told Moldovans that there was "clear evidence" that criminal groups backed by "foreign forces hostile to our national interests" had aimed to buy off 300,000 votes.[19] In October 2024, authorities announced on social media the discovery of a plot by Ilan Shor involving vote bribery and anti-European Union propaganda, following raids on 26 locations nationwide.[22] Security checks were strengthened at Chișinău International Airport following an influx of passengers from Russia carrying large amounts of cash believed to be connected with the plot.In response, the EU imposed sanctions on five people and one entity involved in the influence operation, while the United States accused Russia of spending "millions of dollars" to support its preferred parties and spreading disinformation online.[26] On 17 October, Moldovan authorities announced the discovery of another plot in which 100 youths were trained in Moscow, Serbia and Bosnia by private military groups to foment civil unrest, including using nonlethal weapons to create "mass disorder" during the election and referendum, adding that four people had been arrested and that some of them received several thousand euros in payments.[35] The outcome of the referendum was described as a closer result than what opinion polls had predicted,[2] amidst allegations of vote buying made against the side opposed to the constitutional change.[25] Earlier in the year, an investigation conducted by the newspaper Ziarul de Gardă revealed the existence of a criminal enterprise headed by Ilan Shor, which received $15 million from the Russian government (the admissions were recorded on camera); those funds were then distributed to around 130,000 people in order to bribe voters and spread disinformation against the European Union.[25] The election monitor Promolex also noted instances at polling stations in Russia in which voters allegedly received white jackets emblazoned with the words "Russia/Moldova" as well as invitations to restaurants and internet cards as voting benefits.[53] The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe observer team said in a statement that the constitutional referendum was well-managed and contestants campaigned freely in an environment characterized by concerns of illicit foreign interference and active disinformation efforts.While this affected the integrity of the process, campaign conditions did not allow for a level playing field among contestants, as the media coverage favoured the incumbent and the government and there was misuse of public resources.OSCE stated that "the election administration worked professionally and demonstrated impartiality in their decision-making", and special co-ordinator Lucie Potůčková praised the country "for implementing a number of reforms to increase public confidence in the electoral system, in the context of heavy Russian propaganda.[57] In a statement on 24 October, Sandu stated that, despite the instances of vote buying, she had rejected suggestions of annulling and repeating the elections as "no one has the right to deny citizens a massive, honest and free expression of their will".She further stated that, without the buying of votes, "we would have had a clear victory for both the presidential elections and the referendum", and also urged the Moldovan judiciary to "wake up" and address the issue of electoral bribery.
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