Moldova’s pro-EU President Maia Sandu appears on course for a second term after a crucial round of elections seen as a choice between Europe and Russia.
Alexandr Stoianoglo had taken an early lead. Backed by the pro-Russian Party of Socialists, he had promised a closer relationship with Moscow.
But with more than 95% of votes counted, the Central Electoral Commission says Sandu has made progress with 51.85% of the vote, and with results still coming in from the expat vote, she is expected to lead will strengthen.
During the vote, the president’s national security adviser said there was “massive interference” by Russia in Moldova’s election process, which had “great potential to distort the outcome.”
Russia had already denied interfering in the vote, which came a week after another key Eastern European election in Georgia, which the president said was a “Russian special operation.”
As the polls closed, both Maia Sandu and her rival thanked voters, with Stoianoglu speaking both Russian and Romanian. Although Romanian is the main language of Moldova, Russian is widely spoken due to its Soviet past.
Alexandr Stoianoglo, who was dismissed as attorney general by Sandu, has denied being pro-Kremlin.
Voting ended in Moldova at 9pm (7pm GMT), with turnout 54% higher than four years ago, and particularly high among expat voters at polling stations abroad.
Stoianoglu won the vote in Moldova itself with more than 51%, preliminary results show, but Sandu was far ahead in the capital Chisinau and was completely dominant among expat voters.
When she overtook her challenger, there were cheers at her campaign headquarters and chants of “victory.”
Her lead was expected to become even clearer once results from the US and EU were released. The final results will be announced on Monday.
Casting his vote, he pledged to be an “apolitical president” for all, telling reporters he had voted for “a Moldova that should develop in harmony with both the West and the East.”
Stoianoglu did particularly well in the countryside and in the south, while Sandu led the way in the cities and abroad, Moldovan media reported.
Sandu, after casting her vote, appealed for Moldovans to maintain their independence, warning of “thieves” trying to buy their vote and their country.
Presidential National Security Adviser Stanislav Secrieru said Russia had organized buses and large charter flights to take voters to polling stations.
Bomb threats had briefly disrupted voting in Moldova, at British polling stations in Liverpool and Northampton and in Frankfurt and Kaiserslautern in Germany, he added.
Moldova has been a Soviet republic for 51 years and is flanked by Ukraine and Romania and is one of the poorest countries in Europe. It has 2.5 million inhabitants and 1.2 million expats.
Moldova’s authorities have long warned that a fugitive oligarch named Ilan Shor spent $39 million trying to buy Moscow’s elections with donations to 138,000 Moldovans.
Shor, who lives in Moscow, denies wrongdoing but promised cash payments to anyone willing to support his call for a “resolute no” on the EU.
Commentators and politicians had warned that a Stoianoglu victory could radically change the political landscape in the Danube and Black Sea regions, not because he was some kind of “Trojan horse” but rather because Russia has thrown its weight behind him.
Lines formed at polling stations in Moscow, Italy and among voters from a mainly Russian-speaking breakaway region of Transnistria, who had to cross the Dniester River into Moldova-controlled territory to vote. Transnistria is home to a Russian military base and a huge weapons depot.
The Moldovan Election Commission said it was aware of reports of organized and illegal transports of voters by air and land in Russia, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Turkey, and called on the public to report further violations.
Although Sandu had easily won the first round of voting, several candidates backed Stoianoglo, although the third-placed candidate refused to support either of them.
The first round coincided with a nerve-wracking referendum on whether to support a constitutional amendment embracing the commitment to join the EU.
In the end, the vote was in favor by a narrow margin, and Maia Sandu said there was clear evidence of attempts to buy 300,000 votes.
