A razor-thin majority of 50.4 percent of Moldovans voted yes on Monday in a referendum on whether to amend the constitution to establish EU membership as a national goal.
In the presidential election, held alongside the referendum, President Maia Sandu won 42 percent of the vote, short of the 50 percent needed to win outright and paving the way for a Nov. 3 runoff against former prosecutor-general Alexandr Stoianoglo, who won 26 percent.
Sandu is aiming for Moldova—a small country sandwiched between Ukraine to the east and Romania to the west—to join the bloc by 2030.
Analysts said more than 200,000 from the largely pro-EU diaspora favored an EU path.
The referendum has been clouded by accusations of foreign interference, with claims pointing to either Kremlin involvement or Western influence.
In a statement to Moldovans, pro-Western Sandu said late on Sunday that there was “clear evidence” of fraud.
She said that criminal groups working together with foreign forces hostile to Moldova’s interests sought to buy 300,000 votes.
“Their objective was to undermine a democratic process. Their intention was to spread fear and panic in society. ... We are waiting for the final results, and we will respond with firm decisions,” she said.
‘Interference’
Western powers alleged the election was marred by interference from Russia.“This vote took place under unprecedented interference and intimidation by Russia and its proxies, aiming to destabilize the democratic processes in the Republic of Moldova,” European Commission spokesperson Peter Stano said on Monday. “This is an ongoing effort from Russia and its proxies—not only in Moldova; indeed also against our countries—and it’s a long-term fight. They don’t have boundaries. We, as the European Union ... respect certain principles, including the laws, but Russia and its actors and its proxies do not respect that.”
Moscow has denied it is interfering in Moldova’s affairs. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that the country’s election was not free.
“What we see is a mechanically hard-to-explain rate of increase in votes in favor of Sandu and in favor of those referendum participants who favored an EU orientation,” Peskov said.
He said that the opposition had been denied the opportunity to campaign.
“If she is saying that she did not receive votes because of certain criminal groups, she must present evidence,” Peskov said. “And it would be nice for Mrs Sandu to explain such a large number of voices which dissent from her line. Are these also criminal gangs? Or does she mean that Moldovan citizens who do not support her are associated with criminal gangs? There are a lot of nuances here.”
Cristian Cantir, a Moldovan associate professor of international relations at Oakland University, told The Associated Press that polls might have “overestimated the pro-EU feeling” inside Moldova and that the referendum would have failed to pass without votes from outside the country.
“It’s going to be particularly problematic because ... it’s going to feed into narratives that are pushed by the Kremlin and pro-Russian forces,” he said.
