Sandu: Russia shifting focus to Armenia after election setbacks

Moldovan President Maia Sandu has warned that Russia is recalibrating its political strategy following recent regional elections and intends to continue interfering in political processes across multiple countries, including Moldova and Armenia, Caliber.Az reported, citing Moldovan media.

In an interview with Romanian journalists, Sandu said Moscow is now shifting focus to nations with upcoming elections in an effort to preserve its influence across the post-Soviet region and even within established Western democracies.

“The Russian Federation is adjusting its strategy. They did not expect such results and are now revising their plans. They will focus on countries where elections are approaching, for instance, Armenia next year, where they will attempt to seize control of power,” Sandu said.

She stressed that states bordering Ukraine have become particular targets of Russian propaganda and disinformation campaigns, with the Kremlin seeking to turn them into “unfriendly or neutral actors” regarding the war in Ukraine.

“Unfortunately, it has managed to manipulate parts of our citizens, as well as citizens of Romania,” she added.

Sandu cited Moldova’s own experience with information warfare and interference, saying that while in Moldova Russian influence often involves vote-buying and direct manipulation, in countries such as Romania, France, or Germany, it operates more subtly through propaganda networks that are harder to detect.

Addressing the growing threat of cyberattacks and online disinformation, Sandu noted that neither Moldova nor the European Union currently has effective mechanisms to counter Moscow’s influence.

“Freedom of expression is one thing, but artificially amplified content financed by Moscow is another. We allow autocrats to exploit democratic freedoms to attack democracy,” she warned.

Calling for tighter regulation of social media platforms, Sandu urged democratic nations to establish common international standards to help smaller countries defend themselves.

“Moldova is a small country, platforms neither communicate with us nor follow their own rules. We need collective action from the democratic world so that nations like ours are not left to fight alone,” she concluded.

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