The candidate challenging pro-European incumbent Maia Sandu in Moldova’s presidential election rejected suggestions that he was beholden to Russia, calling for European integration while avoiding the divisions he said the president had created.
Alexandr Stoianoglo is backed in Sunday’s run-off vote by a party traditionally linked to Russia.
He told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday that if elected to lead the ex-Soviet state he would seek to bridge differences with Moldova’s separatist Transdniestria enclave and was prepared to meet Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin if it was in the interests of a majority of his compatriots.
“I have had no contacts for years with officials in Russia. Not by telephone, not in secret, not in meetings, not anywhere,“Stoianoglo said in response to Sandu’s allegation that he was a “Trojan horse” and “Moscow’s man”.
Sandu, who scored 42% in the election’s first round last month to 26% for Stoianoglo, has made European integration the focus of her four years in office and denounces Russia as one of the greatest evils facing the country, which lies between Ukraine and Romania. Relations with Moscow have plummeted.
In the aftermath of the first round – and a razor-thin “yes” vote in a referendum on joining the European Union – Sandu cited “clear evidence” that criminal groups backed by “foreign forces” had tried to bribe 300,000 voters.
Stoianoglo, answering questions in writing, said he had no links with Ilan Shor, the fugitive pro-Russian businessman who acknowledges paying voters to cast “no” ballots in the referendum.
He restated his call for a “reset” of relations with Moscow despite criticism from opponents.
Content retrieved from: https://www.firstpost.com/world/moldovan-presidential-challenger-stoianoglo-pledges-eu-membership-with-measured-movement-denies-kremlin-connections-13830418.html.
