Loading ...BALKAN BLOG: What went wrong for the EU in Georgia’s and Moldova’s elections?
Both Georgia and Moldova held pivotal elections in late October, each framed as a litmus test of the strength of their pro-European aspirations against Russia’s lingering influence. When the results came in, the pro-EU share of the vote was considerably lower than expected. What went wrong?
Ahead of Moldova’s October 20 referendum on the issue of embedding EU integration into its constitution, people questioned by bne IntelliNews in Chisinau — from government officials to analysts to business representatives and international investors — saw the vote as a foregone conclusion, expecting a resounding ‘yes’ from the population.
Instead, it was an unexpectedly close vote. The ‘yes’ camp won with just 50.35% of the vote, as confirmed by Moldova’s Constitutional Court on October 31, and this outcome was swayed by the Moldovan diaspora’s strong pro-EU vote; within Moldova, a majority of voters opposed the constitutional change.