Sandu claims ROC clergy influencing elections by spreading propaganda

Maia Sandu. Photo: FT

In comments to the Financial Times, Moldovan President Maia Sandu stated that priests of the Russian Orthodox Church are allegedly spreading propaganda and trying to influence the parliamentary elections by targeting Moldovans living in the diaspora.

“Russians are attacking the diaspora,” she said, accusing Moscow of using ROC clergy to spread propaganda and of employing the bot network “Matreshka” to generate fake content disguised as legitimate foreign media outlets. At the same time, Sandu did not provide any concrete evidence of clergy involvement in propaganda activities.

The publication points out that for Sandu, diaspora voters are pivotal, since she lacks strong popularity within the country.

According to FT, Sandu won the second round with a margin of 55% thanks to the large Moldovan diaspora. If only the votes of citizens voting domestically were counted, she would have lost, as voters turned against her due to rising energy prices linked to the war in Ukraine and Moldova’s decision to reduce its dependence on Russian supplies.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that the Moldovan authorities accused the Orthodox Church of interfering in the elections.

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