CHISINAU, Nov 1, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Moldova presidential contender Alexandr Stoianoglo is praised by his supporters for his calm and keeping his distance from the EU, while his critics slam him as a Russian "Trojan horse".

The former state prosecutor is hoping to unseat President Maia Sandu -- who fired him last year -- in Sunday's election to lead the country of 2.6 million that borders Ukraine.

Stoianoglo, who is campaigning on the slogan "Justice for all", has himself been indicted in several graft cases.

But he has vowed to save the former Soviet republic from "four more years of abuse and ruin" under his rival if he is elected in Sunday's second round run-off.

Stoianoglo, who is backed by the pro-Russian Socialists, won a higher-than-expected 26 percent in the first round vote on October 20.
He was well behind Sandu on more than 42 percent, but several pro-Russian candidates have called on their supporters to back him, and analysts predict a tight race.

Sandu, who applied for Moldova to join the EU after Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022, has accused Stoianoglo of being "Russia's man" and "a Trojan horse".

Stoignalo, 57, has denied the claims, saying he wants Moldova to have a "balanced foreign policy" with both the West and Russia.

Polite if stiff, Stoianoglo usually shuns media questions, sticking to reading out written speeches.

He declined an AFP interview request, with his team citing a busy schedule.
- Corruption controversies -
Born in the southern autonomous region of Gagauzia, Stoianoglo is part of the Turkish-origin Orthodox minority, who are traditionally pro-Russian.
He is more comfortable speaking Russian than Romanian, Moldova's official language, and often mixes the two. He also speaks Gagauz and Turkish.

Gagauzians voted overwhelmingly against joining the EU in a referendum also held on October 20 that was carried by the slimmest of majorities.
Stoianoglo said he is in favour of joining the EU, but boycotted the vote, calling it a "parody", with the Socialists contesting the "yes" vote's narrow victory.

After finishing law school in 1992, Stoianoglo worked as a prosecutor in Gagauzia before embarking on a stint as a lawmaker.

In 2019, he was appointed prosecutor general.
But he was suspended two years later after being detained on corruption allegations, which he denied, portraying himself as a victim.

He remains indicted in several cases. Sandu, who accuses him of "neither being able nor willing to fight corruption", fired him last year.

His critics question his relationship to fugitive oligarch Veaceslav Platon, who was sentenced to 18 years in prison in 2017 for money laundering linked to the spectacular disappearance of $1 billion from Moldova's banking system.

Platon was released in 2020 after a motion signed by Stoianoglo when he was prosecutor general, deeming that the oligarch was "illegally convicted".

Acquitted in 2021, Platon has since fled. Stoianoglo denies having close ties to him.

- Georgia scenario -
Socialists leader and ex-president Igor Dodon, whom Sandu defeated in the 2020 elections, has praised Stoianoglo for his "calm" and having the "poise of a man of the law".

"At least he doesn't lead us into an armed conflict and doesn't sell us piece by piece to people who are complete strangers to us," said Victoria Furtuna, a beaten first-round candidate, referring to Sandu's pro-EU and Ukraine stance.

When criticised that his daughters had benefited from the EU by studying there -- with the youngest working for the European Central Bank in Germany -- Stoianoglo insisted it was "the right of every young person in Moldova" to go where they wanted.

If Stoianoglo wins, a scenario similar to the one in Georgia could ensue -- with Moldova not formally giving up on its European path, but taking decisions that would make Brussels freeze negotiations, according to Andrei Curararu, an expert at the Chisinau-based WatchDog think tank.