Party of politician who wants Odesa region excluded from elections in Moldova

The party Moldova Mare (Greater Moldova), led by Victoria Furtune, which called for the annexation of part of Odesa region to Moldova, was excluded from the race for the September 28 parliamentary elections.

The decision was made by the Central Election Commission on September 26, TV8 reported.

According to the CEC, the party used funds that were not declared in its financial management reports, funds from abroad, and bribed voters. The party is also accused of participating in a disguised electoral bloc together with representatives of parties whose activities were restricted, who are considered successors of the party recognized as unconstitutional.

Victoria Furtune rejected the accusations and demanded the recusal of several CEC members, accusing them of political persecution and public condemnation of her party, and said she would take legal action.

On September 28, parliamentary elections are to be held in Moldova. Moldovan authorities have repeatedly reported that Russia is trying to influence the elections in the country. Moldovan President Maia Sandu has stated that Russia plans to use her country as a springboard for a war with Ukraine afterwards.

In May 2025, Victoria Furtune said that Moldova should demand a revision of the borders and the return of Bujak to have access to the sea. She argued that Moldova could demand a revision of the borders because "there is not a single international treaty ratified by Moldova, where it would recognize the loss of Bujak".

On September 21, 2025, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy imposed sanctions against a politician from the group of Moldovan oligarch Victoria Furtune. The sanctions also targeted a number of other politicians who have repeatedly expressed a pro-Russian position, such as Evgenia Gutsul, a Bashkir from Gagauzia, who was found guilty in August by a Chisinau court of complicity in the illegal financing of the pro-Russian party Shor and sentenced to 7 years in prison in a semi-closed penal colony for women.

Кирило Бойко