Polling stations are closed in Moldova where people voted in the country’s presidential election and in a referendum on whether the goal of joining the European Union should be enshrined in the constitution.
Turnout exceeded 51% when polling stations closed at 9:00 PM local time (6:00 PM GMT), making the referendum valid.
Incumbent pro-EU president Maia Sandu hopes to win a second term. She faces 10 challengers, some of whom favor close ties with Russia.
After casting her vote in the Moldovan capital Chisinau earlier on Sunday, Sandu labeled the referendum vote as one that would determine Moldova’s future for “many decades ahead.”
She added that people choose how they and their country should live, and warned Moldovans not to let what she called “dirty money” determine their vote – an apparent nod to Moldovan authorities’ accusations of a campaign to vote buying linked to Russia. . The Kremlin has firmly denied these claims.
One of Sandu’s opponents, Aleksandr Stoianoglo – who is backed by the pro-Russian Party of Socialists – said he did not vote in the referendum because he did not support the idea of a constitutional change – although he added that he was in favor of the constitution of his country. “European aspirations”.
Young people queuing at the polling stations said they were voting because they wanted to choose a European future for their country – for the sake of the economy and more opportunities.
Some said they were tired of being “pulled” to Moscow decades after the Soviet Union collapsed and Moldova gained independence.
“We have to choose a European future for our country, for our children, our future – for geopolitics, for peace, that’s the most important thing,” a voter named Oksana told the BBC. “Because we are between the influence of Europe and Russia, and we have to choose what we want.”
If no presidential candidate wins more than half of the votes, the top two candidates will go to the runoff in two weeks.
