A scheduled parliamentary election was held in Moldova on September 28, 2025, a political event closely followed by the international press and western political leaders. Indeed, the stakes were high, centered around the country's future path towards EU membership or the building of closer ties to Moscow. The result reflects the electorate's western orientation as the pro-European party of president Maia Sandu (PAS) secured an absolute majority in the legislature, obtaining more than half of the total votes (50.20%). What was the campaign like? How did the parties perform compared to last year's presidential election and referendum? Why were two smaller parties excluded from the election? Did Russia interfere in the election? What might be the geopolitical consequences of the election? How will the new cabinet deliver on its promises? Szabolcs Janik, senior researcher of the Center for Political Science at MCC had the chance to discuss these and similar questions with Nicolae Panfil, program director and head of the Promo-LEX Parliamentary Election Observation Mission.

Nicolae Panfil - Program Director and Head of Promo-LEX

Szabolcs Janik (host) - Senior Researcher, Center for Political Science, MCC

With the help of guest experts and politicians, in the podcast series of MCC’s Centre for Political Science we endeavor to analyze which actors are the real winners of the parliamentary and municipal elections taking place this year in different European countries and what exactly can be considered a real victory after the ballot counts.