“Coalition for Unity and Welfare” has sent an open letter to European Union Ambassador Janis Mazeiks on the issue of excluding the party's candidate Igor Munteanu from the presidential race. As INFOTAG reports, in the letter Munteanu criticizes the CEC decision, considering that in this way “candidates inconvenient to the ruling party are excluded from the race”.

In Moldova, unlike in Russia, citizens have the right to make a free choice. Foreign Minister Mihai Popşoi said this on Tuesday, answering journalists' questions, at a press conference together with representatives of the North-Baltic Eight countries, INFOTAG reports.

Independent MP Victoria Cazacu, who was earlier expelled from the ruling Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS), joins “Our Party.” She announced this at a briefing on Tuesday.

The observers of the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO) have found attempts to interfere in the electoral processes in Moldova. This is stated in the preliminary report of the organization, prepared during the first stage of monitoring the election campaign for the presidential elections and the constitutional referendum.

CEC Deputy Chairman Pavel Postica said that “the commission has not yet received the evidence promised by the Inspector General of Police (IGP) of the involvement of some candidates in the presidential elections in the scheme of vote-buying organized by the oligarch Ilan Shor (convicted in absentia in Moldova - ‘I.’)”.

The Party of Communists (PCRM), which is a part of the Bloc of Communists and Socialists faction in Parliament, has again called Socialists’ leader Igor Dodon a “political traitor,” according to a commentary published on the PCRM website in connection with the upcoming elections and referendum.

Interior Minister Adrian Efros said that “the Interior Ministry is investigating cases of corruption during the election campaign,” including bribing voters through Russian PromsvyazBank's MIR cards distributed to citizens. He said that new circumstances have emerged in the case in recent days.

President Maia Sandu held a meeting with the President of the Romanian Senate, Nicolae Ciucă. As INFOTAG reports, the Romanian politician wrote in social networks after the meeting that he confirmed to the President “full support for the bold reforms carried out in Moldova”.

The path to lasting peace for Ukraine should be based on international law. Foreign Minister Mihai Popşoi said this in his speech at the Ukraine-Southeast Europe Summit in Dubrovnik, Croatia, INFOTAG reports.

Only one candidate - the chairman of “Our Party”, Renato Usatii, took part in the first round of electoral debates on the public TV channel Moldova 1. The candidates were invited to participate in the debates in the order in which they were registered with the Central Electoral Commission.

The Municipal Council of Chisinau (MCK) has adopted by 36 votes a declaration in support of the referendum on the introduction of the provision “For Moldova's European path” in the Constitution. 17 and 18 councilors from the PAS and MAN party factions, respectively, plus independent councilor Victor Chironda voted in favor of the document. Councillors from the Party of Socialists, the Party of Communists and two councillors who left the meeting room were opposed.

Ballots for voting in Moldova's presidential election and constitutional referendum on October 20, which were to be used at three polling stations in Russia, have been destroyed. As INFOTAG reports, this was announced by the Central Election Commission on Tuesday.

The incumbent president Maia Sandu remains the favorite in the presidential race. As INFOTAG reports, this is evidenced by the data of the opinion poll conducted by CBS-AXA at the request of the Aspen Institute (Romania), the Foreign Policy Association (APE) and the WatchDog.MD community.

Experts believe that Russia will do everything to compromise the elections and Moldova's European course. This was discussed in the Cutia neagra program on TV8, which analyzed the pro-Russian candidates for the Moldovan presidency.

A sociological poll on the Votum.md portal has shown that incumbent President Maia Sandu and independent candidate Alexandr Stoianoglo, who has the support of the Party of Socialists, are leading in the presidential election by a large margin. As INFOTAG reports, according to the results of the poll, Sandu gained 45.86%, Stoianoglo - 25.49%.

A total of 2,729,996 ballot papers will be printed for the presidential elections and the constitutional referendum. As INFOTAG reports, this decision was made by the Central Election Commission (CEC) based on the number of registered voters.

Presidential candidate Alexandr Stoianoglo believes that “the Russian Foreign Ministry should refrain from regular assessments of the situation in Moldova and focus on diplomatic relations.” In an interview with the RTVI TV channel, he said that he “does not understand these kinds of declarations and condemns them.”

Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu will pay an official visit to Chisinau on Friday. This was reported to INFOTAG agency by the government's press service. The Romanian delegation will also include Deputy Prime Minister Marian Neacsu, Economics Minister Stefan Radu Oprea and Agriculture Minister Florin-Ionut Barbu.

The Chisinau Court of Appeal has rejected the suit of Igor Munteanu, chairman of the Coalition for Unity and Welfare party, who challenged the CEC decision to refuse to register him in the presidential race. The politician said on social networks.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has adopted a resolution on propaganda and freedom of information in Europe, calling for sanctions against Russian propagandists and recognizing the Russian Orthodox Church as an instrument of influence. The document was adopted on the basis of the report of Stefan Schennach (Austria, SOC) and aimed at an effective and coordinated fight against malicious propaganda.