(Bloomberg) -- The Kremlin dismissed Moldovan President Maia Sandu’s widely-acknowledged election for a second term, saying the pro-Western leader hadn’t won the support of a majority of voters in her country.
“She is not, as far as we understand, the president of her country, because in the country itself, the majority of the population did not vote for her,” President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters Tuesday, according to the Interfax news service. “We are talking about a very, very divided society.”
It’s unclear if Russia intends formally to refuse recognition of Sandu, who won just over 55% in Sunday’s run-off aided by a surge in voting by Moldovans living abroad. Her opponent Alexandr Stoianoglo, a former top prosecutor who had pledged to maintain strong ties with Russia, narrowly won an edge among voters living inside the country.
While the pro-Russian Party of Socialists, which endorsed Stoianoglo, questioned Sandu’s legitimacy because her victory was assured by the votes of Moldovans abroad, it didn’t say that it would challenge the vote in court.
Sandu has vowed to press ahead with her push to gain European Union membership for the former Soviet republic by the end of the decade, defying what authorities called “massive interference” in the election from Moscow.
Russia, which has dominated Moldova’s energy resources, has sought to derail the country’s integration with the West. It denies meddling in the election and a referendum Moldova held last month on its bid to join the EU.
While many Moldovans remain sympathetic to Moscow, Moldova’s chief EU negotiator last month said Russia had pumped some €100 million ($109 million) into efforts to disrupt the votes.
--With assistance from Irina Vilcu.
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