Moldova supported constitutional amendments on the EU by a narrow margin
Kyiv • UNN
In a referendum in Moldova, 50.46% of voters supported constitutional changes to join the EU. At the same time, presidential elections were held, where Maia Sandu failed to win an outright victory in the first round.
In the referendum, Moldovans narrowly supported the proposed constitutional amendments and its aspirations to join the EU. According to official data, 50.46% of those who voted said “Yes” and 49.54% said “No”. This was reported by UNN with reference to the BBC.
Details
The vote was combined with the presidential election, in which Maya Sandu, the pro-EU incumbent, failed to win an outright victory, so the country will face a runoff next month.
The turnout for the two votes was over 50%. More than 99.6% of the votes were counted.
Reacting to the referendum results, Maia Sandu said that the pro-EU forces had won the first battle in a “hard fight” that she also called “unfair.” She accused what she called Moldova's “enemies” and criminal gangs of trying to buy votes, and said this was a dangerous phenomenon for any democracy.
On Sunday, Sandu condemned the election result as the result of foreign interference in Moldovan politics and said that Moldova had experienced an “unprecedented attack on democracy.” In neither case did she refer directly to Russia, but in recent weeks, Moldovan authorities have uncovered a giant scheme of payments coming from Moscow to pay people to vote against them and the EU referendum.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Sandu should present “evidence” of her claims that foreigners interfered in the vote.
EU representative Peter Stano said on Monday that the vote took place “in the face of unprecedented interference and intimidation by Russia and its supporters.
In addition to the referendum on constitutional amendments, Moldovans also voted on Sunday in the presidential election. The election was a key test for the country, which is facing a choice between continuing its EU membership and maintaining close ties with Russia. Sandu won the first round of the election with 41% of the vote against 26% for her closest rival.
The result of Oleksandr Stoyanoglo, who is supported by the pro-Russian Party of Socialists, was much higher than expected.
Sandu now faces a difficult second round on November 3, in which her rivals, populist Renato Usatîi and former Gagauz bashkan Iryna Vlah, are likely to unite against her and support Stoianoglo.
Elections in Moldova: Maia Sandu wins in the first roundOct 21 2024, 06:11 PM • 19696 views
