Moldovan residents residing in Moscow are seen lining as much as vote at a polling station throughout the 2024 Moldovan elections in Moscow, Russia on October 20, 2024. Moldovans headed to the polls for the presidential election on Sunday and a referendum on EU membership, with the vote going down beneath the shadow of the continued battle between the West and Russia over Moldova.
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Moldova’s political destiny hung within the steadiness on Monday after key votes on whether or not to just accept a future with Europe or stay in Russia’s orbit.
Two votes had been held within the former Soviet republic over the weekend: one was a presidential election, wherein incumbent and pro-European President Maia Sandu will face a second spherical of voting in opposition to her rival Alexander Stojanoglo. Voters additionally headed to the polls for a referendum on whether or not the nation ought to flip its quest for European Union (EU) membership right into a nationwide aim enshrined within the nation’s structure.
A slim majority of fifty.16 p.c of respondents answered “sure” based on a provisional depend of 98.56 p.c of the vote, Moldova’s Central Election Fee mentioned in a video briefing, based on a CNBC translation.
The referendum is the end result of years of division and uncertainty over whether or not Moldova ought to hyperlink its destiny with its western neighbors or with Moscow.
Sandwiched between Ukraine to the east and Romania to the west, this predominantly agrarian nation is commonly labeled as one of many poorest international locations in Europe. Because the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, it has oscillated between pro-Russian and pro-European governments, comparable to the present administration of President Sandu.
Official negotiations for joining the bloc began already in Junehowever Sunday’s legally non-binding referendum was seen as cementing Moldova’s pro-European trajectory.
European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen (left) greets Moldovan President Maia Sandu (proper) in the beginning of the European Individuals’s Occasion (EPP) Congress in Bucharest on March 6, 2024.
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The slender victory for the “sure” camp, which helps the nation’s pro-European course, might be taken as an indication of indecision and division among the many voters, however Moldova’s management accused Russia of operating a vote-buying marketing campaign to alter the outcomes of presidential election in favor of her pro-Russian rival and within the EU referendum as she struggles to retain affect in what she sees as her “yard”.
“Legal teams working with international powers hostile to our nationwide pursuits attacked our nation with tens of hundreds of thousands of euros, lies and propaganda, utilizing probably the most disgraceful means to maintain our nation trapped in uncertainty and instability,” Performing President Maya Sandu mentioned in an announcement posted on social media platform X.
“We now have clear proof that these prison teams aimed to purchase 300,000 votes – fraud on an unprecedented scale. Their intention was to undermine the democratic course of. Their intention was to instill concern and panic within the public,” she added.
A mix harvests corn in a discipline on October 20, 2024 in Calfa, Moldova. Moldova held its presidential election on Sunday, pitting pro-EU incumbent Maia Sandu in opposition to ex-prosecutor Alexandre Stoianoglo, backed by the pro-Russian Socialist Occasion, and 9 different candidates. Voters additionally took half in a referendum on whether or not to alter the structure to make EU membership an official nationwide aim.
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