SHOTLIST: CHISINAU, MOLDOVA (SEPT. 28, 2025) (ANADOLU - ACCESS ALL) 1. EXTERIOR OF POLLING STATION (2 SHOTS) 2. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE VOTING AT POLLING STATION 3. PRESIDENT OF REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA MAIA SANDU CASTING HER VOTE AT POLLING STATION 4. PRESIDENT OF REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA MAIA SPEAKING TO PRESS IN FRONT OF POLLING STATION 5. PRESIDENT OF REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA MAIA SANDU LEAVING POLLING STATION, FOLLOWED BY MEDIA CHISINAU, MOLDOVA - SEPT. 28: Moldovans began heading to the polls Sunday in a parliamentary election, which is expected to not only decide the balance of power in parliament but also shape Chisinau’s bid for EU membership. Voting began at 2,274 polling stations, of which 1,973 are in Moldova itself, at 7 am local time (0400GMT) and will end at 9 pm local time (1800GMT). “Over 3.6 million ballots were printed for these elections, of which 865 thousand were distributed to polling stations outside the country,” said a statement by Moldova’s Central Election Commission (CEC). According to the CEC, over 3,400 observers will monitor the election, including 912 international observers. In a briefing at noon, the CEC announced that over 589,000 Moldovans voted in the election and that all polling stations established in Europe and Asia have opened. It also noted that 60,000 voters have cast their ballots abroad. "According to operational information, since the beginning of the day, 31 cases of violations or incidents targeting the electoral process have been registered," it added. During the vote, President Maia Sandu’s ruling Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS), which has held a majority in parliament since 2021, is facing multiple political alliances made up of mostly pro-Russian opposition parties, which have tried to frame themselves as viable alternatives to PAS. Among the ruling party’s competition include the Patriotic bloc, led by former President Igor Dodon, and the Alternative bloc, which counts Chisinau Mayor Ion Ceban and former presidential candidate Alexandr Stoianoglo among its leaders. In an address to the European Parliament earlier this month, Sandu defined the election as the “most consequential” since the country’s independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. The vote is expected to determine the fate of Moldova’s geopolitical path. Sandu and the PAS have led Moldova closer to Brussels, securing EU candidate status, alongside Ukraine, in 2022, and opening accession talks in June 2024. A referendum held in October that same year narrowly enshrined EU membership in the country’s constitution. The vote has been marked by allegations of Russian interference, particularly by Sandu, who warned in July that Russia is “investing in multiple political vehicles” to gain influence in parliament. Russia has denied the claims, and accused Moldovan authorities of “dividing citizens” by limiting polling stations in Russia while expanding them across Europe. Russia has also accused the EU and NATO of plotting to “occupy Moldova” and intimidate Transnistria, a breakaway region of Moldova controlled by pro-Russian separatists since the early 1990s​​​​​.