Despite Russian influence, Moldova votes Pro-EU, highlighting future election risks

Moldova’s deputy prime minister Doina Nistor blamed Russia for a cyberattack on the country’s Central Electoral Commission ahead of the forthcoming parliamentary election, describing it as part of a wider hybrid campaign to destabilise democracy. Officials said threat actors targeted a vulnerability that was subsequently secured, with the attacks carried out as DDoS activity via hijacked routers.

According to POLITICO, Nistor added that “This was a vulnerability that was identified and is now fixed.” The incidents form part of a broader effort to meddle in Moldova’s elections and test tools that could be used elsewhere in Europe, with officials warning of heavy meddling and an EU test-bed role.

The Moldovan president Maia Sandu’s pro-EU party won the election with a clear majority, and the EU deployed its new cyber reserve to Moldova under the Cyber Solidarity Act, marking the first use; the U.S. and countries such as Romania, Sweden, Estonia and the UK also provided support. Tanislav Secrieru, national security adviser to Sandu, said, “The scale of Russian interference today far exceeds what we saw in 2024.”