Moldova has voted in favor of joining the European Union by a razor thin margin, in a referendum that came down to just a few thousand votes.
A knife-edge majority of 50.17 per cent voted “yes” in Moldova’s pivotal referendum on joining the European Union.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the election was not free and the results showed a “hard-to-explain” increase of votes in favour of President Maia Sandu and the European Union.
At midnight, with more than 90 percent of votes counted and “Yes” lagging by almost 10 points, pro-Western President Maia Sandu held an press conference in which she blamed the early tally on “foreign forces” using cash and propaganda to influence the result.
Moldova’s incumbent President and presidential candidate Maia Sandu stands in front of members of a local electoral commission at a polling station
Reuters
Moldova’s incumbent President and presidential candidate Maia Sandu
Reuters
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the election was not free (file pic)
Reuters
Romanian MEP Siegfried Mureșan, who chairs the parliament’s liaison committee working on Moldova’s accession to the EU, said the result: “represents a victory for the people of the Republic of Moldova and a defeat for Russia.”
He added: “I will ensure that we, as the European Union, respect the will of the Moldovan people expressed in the referendum and provide all the necessary support for the EU accession process.”
Sandu addressed Moldovan citizens overnight, saying there was “clear evidence” that criminal groups working together with “foreign forces hostile to our national interests” had sought to buy off 300,000 votes.
Peskov said: “If she is saying that she did not receive votes because of certain criminal groups, she must present evidence.”
Romanian Member of the European Parliament (Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) – Partidul Naional Liberal) Siegfried Muresan
Getty
More to come…