A pivotal contest in Moldova between supporters of Russia and those who favor aligning with the West was too close to call on Monday morning, with voters almost evenly divided over proposed constitutional changes that would lock in the country’s exit from Moscow’s sphere of influence.
The proposed amendments, put to a vote on Sunday, would enshrine the “irreversibility” of the former Soviet republic’s “European course” and call for Moldova, a small country that is one of Europe’s poorest, to one day join the European Union.
With nearly 98 percent of ballots counted, the “yes” and “no” votes over the contentious changes — which Russia and its Moldovan proxies worked hard to derail — were virtually tied.
Supporters of the amendments had been far behind in early counting, but provisional results released later by the central electoral commission showed them surging to close the gap as ballots were counted from Moldovans living abroad, mostly in the West, where voters are generally younger and more hostile to Russia.
In a separate vote on Sunday, Moldova’s pro-Western president, Maia Sandu, finished far ahead of 10 rival candidates in her bid for re-election, though she did not win the majority needed to avoid a runoff vote on Nov. 3.
The referendum result was much tighter than opinion polls had indicated it would be. It showed a country split nearly evenly over its future direction, falling far short of the emphatic endorsement of the West expected by Ms. Sandu and her backers in the European Union and the United States.
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Source link : https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/20/world/europe/moldova-election-russia-eu.html
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Publish date : 2024-10-20 07:00:00
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