European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called on Moldovans to participate in two crucial upcoming elections and announced that the European Union has earmarked 1.8 billion euros ($1.97 billion) in financial support for the economy of one of Europe's poorest countries in the next three years.
Pro-Western President Maia Sandu is running for a second term on October 20, when voters will also have their say in a referendum on joining the 27-member European Union.
On the same day Von der Leyen traveled to Moldova, police searched the homes of leaders of a group linked to fugitive pro-Russian businessman Ilan Shor as part of a criminal investigation into election meddling. Three people were detained for at least 72 hours following 115 searches that began on October 8.
The police action came after the country's police and Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office last week said tens of thousands of voters had been paid off in a bid to derail Chisinau's election. The Moldovan authorities said the payments were made through accounts in a Russian bank and were managed by people in Russia.
Shor, a resident of Russia who is wanted in Moldova, has denied allegations, describing statements from Moldovan authorities as an "absurd spectacle."
Shor's account on Telegram was later blocked in Moldova, though people were able to gain access to an alternative account he opened.
At a joint news conference with Sandu, Von der Leyen encouraged Moldovans to go to the polls to express their "free and sovereign choice" but stopped short of telling them how to vote.
Under the U.S.-educated Sandu, who came to power after defeating Russian-backed incumbent Igor Dodon in 2020, Moldova took an about-turn toward the West, condemning Moscow's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and joining the EU sanctions regime against the Kremlin.
Moldova secured EU candidate status in June 2022 and opened membership negotiations with the bloc earlier this year, steps that prompted Russia to step up attempts to undermine the credibility of Moldova's government and portray Moscow as a better alternative for Chisinau's future.
Sandu said the 1.8 billion-euro package would be used to invest in "areas that will generate economic growth and public services" such as repairing schools, building two new hospitals in the cities of Balti and Cahul, and building roads and bridges to connect Moldova with its neighbors. But the money would also be used to develop the country's energy network.
The election is seen as a make-or-break moment for the future of Moldova, a country of 2.5 million wedged between Romania and Ukraine where Russia still wields massive influence and maintains more than 1,000 troops in the separatist Transdniester region, 33 years after Chisinau declared independence from the Soviet Union.
Von der Leyen praised Sandu for "how committed" she has been to "Moldova's European path" and for the advances made by Moldova toward EU membership and mentioned "the initiation of reforms of the judiciary, the fight against corruption, and the expulsion of oligarchs from the economic sector."
Sandu called the financial support package "a symbol of trust in Moldova's development potential."
"Thank you, dear Ursula, for your support for Moldova all these years," Sandu said.
In announcing the alleged payments-for-votes scheme on October 3, authiorities said that in September alone more than $15 million from Russian banks were directed to the accounts of more than 130,000 Moldovan citizens.
The plot was allegedly hatched by Shor, a Russian-backed fugitive oligarch implicated in a $1 billion bank fraud and other illicit schemes who has organized protests in Chisinau against Sandu.