---
title: "Great Britain backed Moldova against Russian election interference"
url: https://radiomoldova.md/p/85710/great-britain-backed-moldova-against-russian-election-interference
published: 2026-09-23T15:08:00Z
language: en
author: "Liubomir Guțu"
section: "Political"
source: radiomoldova.md
---

# Great Britain backed Moldova against Russian election interference

> Great Britain has provided technical support to the Republic of Moldova to protect its elections from attempts by the Russian Federation to influence the electoral process. The announcement was made by British Prime Minister Andy Burnham on September 22, from the podium of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, in the context of the hybrid war waged by the Kremlin against Europe.

![](https://storage.radiomoldova.md/images/922d1b09-5a00-43d4-93a2-46673909b786.jpg)

Great Britain has provided technical support to the Republic of Moldova to protect its elections from attempts by the Russian Federation to influence the electoral process. The announcement was made by British Prime Minister Andy Burnham on September 22, from the podium of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, in the context of the hybrid war waged by the Kremlin against Europe.

*“London helped the Republic of Moldova protect its elections from Russian interference”*, the British prime minister stated in his speech, adding that other states are also exposed to similar risks, *“as elections approach across Europe*”.

In this context, Prime Minister Burnham announced that the United Kingdom is prepared to make its intelligence services’ expertise on how Russia operates in such situations available to other countries.

*“This is essential for our collective security and resilience”*, the British official emphasized.

Burnham also mentioned that he had ordered the creation of a National Centre for Information Defence, intended to identify and counter disinformation operations carried out by hostile states.

**“The Republic of Moldova has many lessons it can share with its partners”** 

We recall that, during the parliamentary elections of 28 September 2025, the digital infrastructure of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) was targeted by more than one billion cyberattack attempts, CEC secretary Dana Munteanu announced on the “In Context” programme on Moldova 1.

According to her, the attacks were detected and neutralized in real time, without affecting the proper conduct of the election.

An investigation published by The New York Times noted that the cyberattacks were countered through the joint efforts of national experts and Western partners.

At the third edition of the Moldova Cybersecurity Forum 2026, held in May of this year, the Republic of Moldova was highly praised by international experts for its capabilities to withstand hybrid attacks.

*“Cyber challenges no longer have borders. We saw this in 2024 and 2025, in that hybrid war against our country. No nation is an isolated island anymore – we are all vulnerable. The Republic of Moldova has committed to regional cooperation and participates in trilateral activities to combat hybrid attacks alongside Romania and Ukraine*”, said Eugeniu Osmochescu, then Minister of Economic Development and Digitalization.

Dan Cîmpean, director of Romania’s National Cybersecurity Directorate, emphasized that European countries have much to learn from the Republic of Moldova, following Russia’s interference in the 2024 and 2025 elections.

The same was confirmed by Máté Csicsai, deputy head of the EU Delegation to the Republic of Moldova.

*“It is a reality. The Republic of Moldova has many lessons it can share with its partners. This country remains on the cyber front line, demonstrating that it is capable of responding to these challenges. At the same time, the role of the Republic of Moldova is becoming increasingly prominent in Europe’s cyber community”*, the European official noted.

***

Hybrid warfare, conceived and implemented by the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Valery Gerasimov, a strategy known as the “*Gerasimov Doctrine*” or “*peaceful*” warfare, combines non-military means, such as cyberattacks, sabotage, financing opposition parties and corrupting politicians, with limited military force, such as airspace incursions or direct threats.

Among the states most heavily affected by hybrid actions during 2018–2025 are the Baltic countries, the Balkan region and the Central European states, particularly Germany and France.

The sectors most targeted were energy and transport, while the methods used ranged from acts of sabotage to acts of vandalism.

In recent years, the Republic of Moldova has also become the target of such hybrid attacks, including through the illegal incursion of drones into its airspace.

Data from the Center for Strategic Communication and Countering Disinformation (STRATCOM) show that the number of drones that illegally entered Moldovan airspace increased almost tenfold – from 4 in 2022, to 39 in 2026.