Biden: The re-election of the pro-European president in Moldova, evidence of Russia's "failure".

2024-11-04 18:16:40, Kosova & Bota CNA

Biden: The re-election of the pro-European president in Moldova, evidence of

The President of the United States, Joe Biden, on Monday congratulated the President of Moldova, Maia Sandu, for the victory in the second round of the presidential elections and emphasized that Russia's efforts to undermine the election process failed.

Initial results show that pro-Western President Sandu has won a second term.

After counting all the votes, the Central Electoral Commission of Moldova (CEC) emphasized that Sandu won 55.33 percent of the votes, while her pro-Russian opponent, Alexandr Stoianoglo, won 44.67 percent of the votes.

Sandu's victory was a relief to Moldova's Western partners, who immediately hailed it as proof that democracy can triumph against Russian interference.

"I congratulate Maia Sandu on her historic re-election as president of Moldova. For months, Russia has sought to undermine Moldova's democratic institutions and the electoral process. But Russia failed," Biden said in a statement.

"The Moldovan people have exercised their democratic right to choose their own future and have chosen to follow a path connected to Europe and other democracies," he added.

During Sandu's first term, Moldova secured EU candidate status in 2022, and opened membership talks earlier this year after siding with its eastern neighbor, Ukraine, after Russia launched an invasion of in 2022, as well as joining EU sanctions against Moscow.

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said that the election result helps strengthen Moldova's path towards Euro-Atlantic integration.

"Congratulations dear Maia Sandu for the victory tonight. It takes a rare kind of strength to overcome the challenges you have faced in this election," von der Leyen wrote in X.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed Sandu's victory in a message on X, saying Moldovans had made "a clear choice" towards Western integration.

Shortly after midnight on November 4, when it became clear that her lead, boosted by diaspora votes, was unbreakable, a jubilant Sandu told her supporters: "Moldova, you are the winner!"

"Today, dear Moldovans, you have taught a lesson in democracy, which is worth writing in the history books. Today, you have saved Moldova!" she added.

Stoianoglo, a former prosecutor general backed by the pro-Russian Socialist Party, urged supporters to keep calm as his initial lead narrowed as votes from big cities and Moldova's western diaspora were counted.

However, the Socialists later released a statement saying that they do not recognize Sandu's victory, because it was based on votes from abroad./ REL