The former Soviet republic of Moldova has voted by a wafer-thin majority to enshrine a pro-European Union course into the constitution, with almost all of the votes counted in a referendum beset with accusations of voter manipulation.
The referendum is being closely watched in Brussels, but hopes have been dashed of a strong majority in favour of the EU, which pledged €1.8 billion ($1.9 billion) in economic aid for Moldova this month.
Moldova, sandwiched between Ukraine and Romania, is a candidate for EU membership but has traditionally been torn between the West and Russia.
With almost all of the ballots counted, the electoral commission said on Monday that 50.45% of the participants voted in favour of amending the constitution to include closer EU ties as a strategic goal. About 49.55% were against, revealing the strength of the pro-Russian camp.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen congratulated Moldova and Moldovan President Maia Sandu on the vote despite accusations of election interference by Russia.
“In the face of Russia’s hybrid tactics, Moldova shows that it is independent, it is strong and it wants a European future!” von der Leyen said on X.
Sandu had complained of mass electoral fraud during the night, and left open whether she would recognize the result.
The referendum had taken place “under unprecedented interference,” a spokesman for the European Commission said.
Election meddling by Russia to “destabilize the democratic processes in the Republic of Moldova” has been observed for a long time, the spokesman added.
Allegations of vote buying in Moldova, the “bussing of voters” and massive propaganda campaigns by Russia and its proxies in the country are some of the recent examples, he said.
Germany’s deputy government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann said in Berlin: “We see that Russia and also pro-Russian actors are attempting to destabilize Moldova on a large scale.”
Moldova also held a presidential election on Sunday which was won by the incumbent, although Sandu – the founder of the pro-Western Action and Solidarity Party (PAS) – failed to achieve an absolute majority. She garnered 42.3% of the vote, compared to 26% for her main rival Alexandru Stoianoglo, a pro-Russian former attorney general.
Sandu and Stoianoglo will contest a runoff election on November 3.
On Monday, Sandu called on voters to give her their vote in the runoff.
She also noted that Moldovans living abroad had made a vital influence on the EU policy referendum.
Moldovan media reported that most regions of the country voted against a pro-EU course in Sunday’s referendum, but that hundreds of thousands of Moldovans living abroad had weighed the balance in favour of the motion. The country has a resident population of about 2.5 million.