For many Moldovans, President Maia Sandu, who won re-election on Sunday, has become a symbol of change as she seeks to chart a new pro-European path for the former Soviet republic.
Since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Moldova’s neighbour Ukraine, Sandu has lobbied for the West to support her country and hear its concerns that it could be the Kremlin’s next target.
In a tense election battle overshadowed by fears of Russian meddling, Sandu on Sunday secured a second term, defeating ex-prosecutor Alexandr Stoianoglo who was backed by the pro-Russian Socialists.
Applying for Moldova to join the EU in 2022, Sandu, 52, has laid out wide-ranging reforms to fight graft and bring in investment.
In stirring speeches, she has warned of a tough but worthy road ahead for one of Europe’s poorest countries, with a population of 2.6 million.
“Joining the European Union is Moldova’s Marshall Plan,” Sandu said in a speech last month, referring to the economic recovery plan put in place after World War II to rebuild Europe.
Born in the village of Risipeni near the Romanian border before Moldova gained independence in 1991, Sandu obtained a master’s degree in international relations in Chisinau and another in public policy after studying at Harvard University in the United States.
After a stint in the economy ministry, she worked as an economist at the World Bank’s office in Chisinau for more than seven years and later as an adviser of the body’s executive director in Washington.
After two years in Washington, in 2012, she received an “unexpected” offer from Moldova’s government to return and become education minister, kicking off what she has described as a “rollercoaster journey” that ended up in her becoming the country’s first woman president.
“The resistance to change, the overwhelming problems in the education sector, the hate speech I was confronted with, all made my life really difficult,” she recalled in a 2022 speech at Harvard University, describing how this built her “resilience”.
In her drive to rid her country of corruption, Sandu founded her own party in 2016, the centre-right Action and Solidarity Party (PAS).
“It took quite some thought and ultimately a leap of faith to go into politics, instead of choosing a different, quiet and comfortable career path,” she said in her speech at Harvard.
She ran for president in 2016, but failed to win. In 2019, she was Moldova’s prime minister before trying for the post of president again in 2020, this time defeating Moscow-backed incumbent Igor Dodon.
Landlocked between Ukraine and EU member Romania, Moldova has long been divided over closer ties with the European Union or maintaining Soviet-era relations with Moscow.
When Sandu was elected president, her promises of honesty and competence resonated with many Moldovans following political crises and corruption scandals.
Sandu vowed balanced ties with the West and Russia, but relations with Moscow have increasingly soured since Russia invaded Ukraine, with Sandu accusing Moscow of meddling in her country’s politics.
Fluent in Romanian, English and Russian, Sandu enjoys the “respect and recognition” of international leaders, according to Armand Gosu, a Romanian historian who specialises in former Soviet countries and Russia.
Sandu is “a huge chance for Moldova,” he said, noting she was likely the first Moldovan leader “of such international stature”.
Her critics accuse her of lobbying the West while having failed to manage the country’s struggling economy and high inflation or to push forward judicial reforms.
Sandu has been able “to unite a large base of voters,” but also “a relatively large core of disappointed people”, Florent Parmentier, a political scientist at Paris-based Sciences Po, told AFP.
“The main criticism of her is regarding her ability to listen” to opposing views, he said.
In her speech declaring victory on Sunday, Sandu vowed to be a “president for all”.
“I have heard your voice — both from those who support me and those who voted differently. No matter your voting choice, we all want to live in peace, in harmony, and to have a better life. I assure you that this is my primary goal for the coming years,” she said.
