Mariana Lucreteanu, former Member of Parliament and Secretary of State in the Moldovan Ministry of the Interior until February 2025, comments on the consequences of last year's incidents with a view to the upcoming parliamentary elections in September.
Interview by Robert Sperfeld and Julian Gröger.
How has Moldova reacted to the cases of electoral fraud revealed in the Referendum and the presidential elections in October and November 2024? Were they prosecuted?
Mariana Lucreteanu, Former Secretary of State in the Ministry for Internal Affairs of the Republic of Moldova, former Member of Parliament, Action and Solidarity Party (PAS).
There have been many cases of electoral fraud identified all over the country. The police mainly tried to find out who was organizing this vote buying, not so much who was selling their votes. Selling one's vote is also considered a form of fraud under our law that was particularly sharpened for this purpose last year by the Parliament. We wanted to make sure that everyone understands that votes cannot be bought or sold. The response is expungement of such votes. But the police is not alone in investigating the fraud and in identifying those who are actually systematically organizing the criminal networks behind all those fraud cases. We had investigative journalists from Moldovan media inside those networks, and it became very obvious how the network functioned. So the focus was to identify those who were organizing this kind of networking and where they took the money from. We need to determine how they got money from Russia or other countries. This is organized crime. There were a lot of cases opened, but the prosecutors still need to process the cases. It takes a while to see punishments.
Will there be the first verdicts before the parliamentary elections?
This is a question to the prosecution – I can’t answer. But of course those who want to have fair voting of course would like to see results soon. I think everyone is aware how important the punishment of vote buying is.
Which legislative or other measures have been taken in the meantime to make sure that such attempts of manipulation cannot be repeated?
As I said, there was an amendment to the legislation that imposed penalties on individuals who sold their votes. This is a significant development, and it is important to note that the penalty is a fine. Those who engage in this practice face legal consequences; this is a big warning that this is illegal. Furthermore, it is important to note that photographing one's vote and subsequently sharing it with others is strictly prohibited, as it infringes upon the secrecy of the voting process. Therefore, it is illegal to take a photograph of a ballot and then share it with others for monetary gain.
Do you think the awareness among ordinary people, that it is a problem to sell their votes, has grown already and changed attitudes?
Yes and no. We need to understand why people are selling their votes. Let's talk about Moldova. It is one of the poorest countries in Europe. If you go into the villages, especially in the north, you'll see a lot of poor and vulnerable people, also with mental health and alcohol issues, as well as other dependencies or extreme poverty. There are many elderly and particularly vulnerable people who can be easily manipulated. We need to focus on meeting the basic needs of these people, such as providing certainty, security, and food. Only then can we discuss freedom of voting for them. Unfortunately, the state doesn't have enough resources to assist them effectively enough. We need to work together with organizations that help these groups, like Caritas and the Red Cross. Many of these organizations are already here. I think it's the most vulnerable populations that need assistance first. So, the poverty is one reason why people are ready to sell votes.
Another reason is propaganda and manipulation. People have strong beliefs and are exposed to information bubbles for example on youtube. You know how it works. If you search for a topic repeatedly, the algorithm will suggest related content to you. This reinforces your existing beliefs, which can be very harmful because you're not exposed to different perspectives. You're staying in a bubble.
Third, there is direct interference from outside. In the Republic of Moldova, there was documented interference from the Russian Federation, presidential candidates have been funded directly from Russia.
Is the civil society and the independent media in Moldova now better prepared to deal with disinformation with regard to the upcoming parliamentary elections? Do you see effects of the USAid cuts to media sector support?
To be honest, I don't think anyone is ready for what's coming. You have seen what has happened in Romania. I'm not sure at this stage that any country could be ready for it. What we can do is to talk more with our people and encourage them to make the right decision. But you can't say for sure if someone is ready for what's coming because you don't know what's coming with artificial intelligence and so much interference. Also, the geopolitical situation is changing worldwide, and you don't know how that will affect things. However, I'm proud to say that in the Republic of Moldova we have a fourth power in the state which is the media, and they've done a great job so far. The USAID funding stop affects many media sources that were supported by US programs. Many of them now asked for money and support from citizens. They started crowdfunding on Patreon and other platforms to replace those funds. Likely the money they'll receive from citizens will not be sufficient to replace USAID. We are hoping that some European countries that are working with the Republic of Moldova will be interested in supporting such media projects now.
You mentioned that you need to talk to people. How political parties are represented locally, do they have the direct outreach to voters?
This is a complicated question. I think there are only a few parties represented all over the country. The Action and Solidarity Party (PAS), the current majority faction in Parliament, for example, is represented locally almost everywhere in the country, but this does not mean that we can reach out to all villages and groups of the society. It's challenging to build a support network in the north, and we're still working on expanding our connections and finding new allies. We need more Russian-speaking people in the North to make this happen. We have found some Russian-speaking members of parliament who are also on TV a lot, speaking in Russian. They try to go to the North or to Gagauzia to speak in the language of the population, but it's challenging. Even if we identify such personalities in the party, they're still not well known in the North. Our party mostly only speaks Romanian in parliament, so there are only a few Russian-language news programs that reach the population with our messages. The personalities remain not well known. This is an issue. Even if our party is represented, that doesn't mean it has access to the population. Yes, we go to the villages, gather people, and visit homes. I've done this many times, but it doesn't guarantee you'll have enough time to discuss all the issues. It's better to bring everyone together for a longer meeting, maybe an hour or two, so you have time to talk and they can ask questions.
What are the main concerns of the voters in the rural areas? To what extent the political polarization between pro-Russian and pro-European forces is relevant for the voters?
I don't think the population is divided like everyone says. This might be new for you. Above all, the population of the Republic of Moldova is very pragmatic. They want stability and support. And many assume Russia can offer support. I think we didn't do enough in the last years to show that there was no support from Russia. People still think Russia has a big influence in our country and that our economy is dependent. This was true ten years ago, 20 years ago, and 50 years ago, but it's not true anymore. We're getting a lot more support from the European Union, and we're exporting to Europe. People just don't know the truth. And the second issue is the lack of trust to politicians. They tend to see all politicians as being the same and corrupt, but this is not true. We are very different. We have different values, ways of thinking, and visions for the future. I don't think people understand what the Russian reality would mean for Moldova today compared to the prospects of living in the European Union. One idea might be to invite more Russian speaking politicians from other EU countries like the Baltics that could come here and talk with pro-European politicians about the realities of the EU accession process. This could help to increase the public's trust in politicians and towards Europe. It would be very helpful for them to see the support from other European countries.
**How the recent energy crisis has affected politics? And to what extent this was also instrumentalized by Russian disinformation?**This energy crisis was a fabricated crisis. There was no crisis from our point of view. Of course, for left bank (Transnistria) region there was a severe problem when the gas supply stopped. However, this happened because the Russian Federation did not want to negotiate. There were many attempts by our government to solve the situation. The European Union offered support to buy gas on the market, and there was also the option to use Ukrainian coal. But they refused our help multiple times. Unfortunately, they still receive Russian gas through Turkey. The Russian Federation spread misinformation about the Republic of Moldova, claiming that it was interfering with the help for Transnistria. This is false. However, I think most people know the truth because many people in Transnistria are Romanian speaking and consume Romanian media, which helps them understand what is really going on. We are happy that the crisis has ended now, and we are becoming more independent from electricity generation in a region under Russian influence.
Thanks a lot for being available for this interview.
The interview was conducted on 26 February 2025.