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full screen Voting in Moldova’s capital Chisinau on Sunday. Photo: Vadim Ghirda/AP/TT
It appears to be leaning towards a no in the referendum in Moldova on writing the aspiration for EU membership into the constitution. If so, it is a major setback for President Maia Sandu.
Opinion polls ahead of Sunday’s referendum, and presidential election, pointed towards a yes to the EU path. But when just over 90 percent of the votes were counted, the no side led with 53.5 percent against 46.4 for a yes, according to the central election commission’s website.
And the presidential election sees incumbent President Maia Sandu heading for a much narrower victory than expected.
With just over 90 percent of the votes counted, Sandu had the preliminary support of around 38 percent of the voters and the closest, pro-Russian candidate Aleksandr Stoianoglo had received just under 29 percent support.
Both elections are taking place amid strong Russian attempts to influence the outcome.
– Our country is at a crossroads. A group of thieves is trying to deceive the public, Prime Minister Dorin Recean said ahead of the election, calling on Moldovans to be “vigilant”.
As well as the White House, the EU Parliament and Moldovan authorities have pointed out that Moscow is trying to influence the election and steer the country away from the EU and the West.
It concerns, among other things, suspicions concerning a huge influence campaign, where votes from hundreds of thousands of people may have been bought by pro-Russian groups. This week, over 100 Moldovans were also arrested who are said to have been trained in Moscow to create disorder around the voting.
A pro-Western government has been in power in Moldova since 2021, and current president Maia Sandu is the favorite to serve another term.
The polling stations closed at 20:00 Swedish time.