Moldova says how much money Russia has already spent to disrupt elections in the country

Moldovan Deputy Prime Minister Cristina Gerasimova said that Russia has already spent almost 100 million euros on attempts to disrupt the presidential election in the country and the referendum on Moldova's accession to the EU. This is reported by Bloomberg.

Gerasimova specified that the Kremlin spent the money on disinformation, bribing voters and operations to destabilise the political situation in the country. She pointed out that the Russian Federation uses or will use similar methods on the territory of other countries.

One thing should be clear to our partners: we are a testing ground for new methods and whatever works in Moldova will be used in other countries," she said.

Gerasimova emphasised that Moscow's main goal remains "to prevent Moldova from joining the EU"

The Russians exasperate the country's residents by saying that if Moldova joins the EU, it will automatically mean that the country's residents will be sent to the exile. Because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Moldovans are afraid to vote in favour of joining the EU in the referendum," she said.

She described the pro-Kremlin movement in Moldova as the Kremlin's main lever of influence in the country and said that the country's government was aware that Russia was preparing to use more than 300 trained operatives for provocations.

It should be noted that the Kremlin "categorically rejects" accusations of interference in the presidential election in Moldova and accuses the country's government of pursuing an "aggressive anti-Russian policy".

We shall remind you that presidential elections are scheduled for 20 October in Moldova. At the same time, the country will hold a referendum on accession to the EU.