(Bloomberg) -- Moldovan President Maia Sandu announced that a referendum on European Union membership will be held in October as she seeks to ensure the nation of 2.6 million maintains progress toward joining the bloc.

The country, wedged between Romania and Ukraine, last December received the European Commission’s agreement to launch EU accession negotiations and aims to complete the process by 2030. But it’s faced what it calls unprecedented hybrid attacks by Russia, which backs the pro-Russian breakaway region of Transnistria on its territory, to undermine the effort. 

Sandu said she’d asked the Moldovan parliament to start proceedings for the constitutional plebiscite, which is slated for the same day as a presidential election.

“For the majority of Moldovan citizens the EU is a project of peace and prosperity, while Russia is constantly trying to destabilize the situation in Moldova,” Sandu told a Monday news conference in the capital, Chisinau. “We expect that Russia’s attacks and provocations will continue, but I urge citizens not to be intimidated and to support the pro-EU referendum, as the EU is the only option that can ensure peace.”

An incident Sunday at a military base in Transnistria underscored the challenges as the self-proclaimed authorities there reported a helicopter on the ground was hit by an explosion. While they stopped short of outright blaming Ukraine for a drone attack, they indicated a unmanned vehicle had come “from the direction” of the country’s Black Sea Odesa region.

Moldovan officials said the Ukrainian authorities had not confirmed any attack on the Transnistrian region.

“The incident is an attempt to provoke fear and panic in the region,” the Moldovan government said. 

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