Alexandr Stoianoglo (born 3 June 1967) is a Moldovan former prosecutor and politician. Stoianoglo was a candidate in the 2024 Moldovan presidential election. He came second in the first round of voting, eventually losing to incumbent president Maia Sandu in the runoff.

Personal life

Alexandr Stoianoglo is an ethnic Gagauz. Apart from being a Moldovan citizen, he also has Romanian citizenship. Stoianoglo speaks Romanian, Russian, Gagauz and Turkish. He has daughters, with his youngest employed at the European Central Bank in Germany.

Career

Stoianoglo graduated from law school in 1992 and worked as a prosecutor in Gagauzia. He was a member of the Parliament of Moldova from 2009–2014 and became Prosecutor General of Moldova in 2019. On 5 October 2021, Stoianoglo was arrested by security forces under allegations of corruption. In total, five cases were filed against him by Lilian Carp MP, a Vice President of the governing Party of Action and Solidarity. He was suspended from office by Maia Sandu's government, who won the presidency in 2020 on an anti-corruption ticket, before being ultimately dismissed as Prosecutor General in September 2023. In 2023, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Stoianoglo's right to a fair trial had been violated and awarded him 3,600 Euros in damages. In February 2024, a Chișinău court acquitted him in the case involving authorisation of payments to a subordinate prosecutor. During the trial, Stoianoglo accused the government of using the cases to prevent him from ridding the prosecutor's office of political influence.

2024 presidential campaign

Stoianoglo ran as a candidate with the support of the Party of Socialists in the 2024 Moldovan presidential election, where he gained enough votes to force a runoff despite placing second in the first round of voting on 20 October. He faced incumbent president Maia Sandu in the second round on 3 November. Stoianoglo expressed opposition to amending the Constitution of Moldova to enshrine its commitment to joining the European Union in the 2024 Moldovan European Union membership referendum held on the same day as the first round of the presidential election, although he says that he is a supporter of Moldova's "European aspirations". He also promised a "balanced" foreign policy with the EU, the United States, Russia, and China as part of his campaign pledge. He also pledged to restore the supply of cheap Russian gas. During a debate on 27 October, he pledged to continue support for Ukraine. After it was noted that his youngest daughter was working in Germany, an EU member state, Stoianoglo said it was "the right of every young person in Moldova" to go where they wanted. Stoianoglo has been described by Western media as being backed by a "pro-Russian" campaign. He lost in the runoff vote on 3 November to Sandu, winning 45.03% of the vote. He had a greater vote share in rural areas and a greater share of ballots cast within Moldova overall, whilst the winner Sandu claimed more votes amongst those living in cities, and from Moldovans in work or education overseas.