Twelve Moldovan parties clinch pro-Europe pact, but not all back president

27/5/2024 6:20

        Twelve parties in Moldova clinched a pact on Sunday committing them to act in favour of European Union membership for the ex-Soviet state as the campaign for an October referendum on European integration heats up.
        
        But not all the parties support pro-European President Maia Sandu, who is running for re-election in a poll taking place alongside the referendum. Some of them intend to put up a joint candidate to run against her.
        
        The Oct. 20 referendum pits Sandu and pro-European forces against a group of disparate pro-Russian parties which are already holding rallies with the slogan "No to the EU".
        
        Sunday's accord was signed by Sandu's Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS), which holds a majority in parliament in one of Europe's poorest countries, lying between Ukraine and Romania.
        
        But the pact's initiators, four parties jointly dubbed "Together", accuse Sandu of "privatising" European integration by relying solely on her PAS party.