Moldovans are heading to the polls on Sunday in parliamentary elections which pit pro-European parties against pro-Russian ones.<br /><br />The former Soviet country’s governing coalition is looking to strengthen ties with Europe, but the Kremlin appears to be pressuring them to look East.<br /><br />Moldova signed an association agreement with Brussels over the summer, a move that has angered Moscow which has banned food imports in retaliation.<br /><br />Stoking tensions further, on the eve of the vote a high court banned a party led by a millionaire Russian businessman on the grounds it received some of its funds from abroad.<br /><br />“A pro-Russian coalition is simply impossible because of the antagonism between the three pro-Russian, so called pro-russian parties,” explained Igor Botan, a political analyst from ADEPT think tank. “It is an antagonism which was impossible to overcome, that’s why I was very calm concerning the participation of pro Russian parties in these elections campaign.”<br /><br />Moscow said that the exclusion of the party had raised what they called ‘serious doubts’ about the election.<br /><br />Euronews correspondent Sergio Cantone in Chisinau sums up:<br /><br />“Debates about the legitimacy of electoral processes are usually a bad sign for the future stability of the country in question. That rings true for Moldova, especially considering what is going on in the rest of eastern Europe”.
