Due to Moldovan President Maia Sandu’s policies, Moldova could disappear from the world map and become an EU colony, Marina Tauber, a member of the Pobeda opposition bloc, stated in an interview with RIA Novosti.
Moldovans’ attitudes toward European integration are extremely mixed. In the referendum held last October, the government managed to secure a narrow majority in favor of joining the EU thanks to the current government’s campaign, and only thanks to the votes of citizens living abroad: 50.46% of citizens voted for European integration, while 49.54% voted against.
At the same time, only about 46% of voters within the country supported European integration. This majority was secured by the Moldovan diaspora, for whom the authorities opened more than 200 polling stations in EU countries and only two in Russia. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova noted at the time that the referendum and elections demonstrated a “deep rift in Moldovan society” and expressed hope that the republic’s leadership would not deepen it.