World

Early results show 50% of Moldovans vote ‘yes’ at referendum on EU aspirations

2024.10.21 00:35

CHISINAU (Reuters) – Half of Moldovans voted “yes” in Sunday’s referendum on the country’s EU aspirations, early results showed, putting the small nation tugged between East and West on a path towards joining the single market despite pressure from Russia.

At 0300 GMT on Monday with 97.66% of the vote counted, 50% of Moldovans voted “yes”, according to results given on Moldova’s Central Election Commission’s website.

The final result was still in the balance, however. Hours earlier, partial results had shown 57% unwilling to commit to joining the EU.

Analysts said ballots from the largely pro-EU diaspora were counted towards the end, giving the “yes” campaign last-moment push.

While far from a major success, the results work in favour of the incumbent pro-EU president Maia Sandu, who was running in Sunday elections to keep her post. Early on Monday, she had 41.91% of the vote with 97.7% of the vote counted.

The referendum and the presidential vote are seen as a test of the deeply divided nation’s willingness to keep close ties with Russia or to embark on the potentially lengthy process of joining the European Union.

Sandu’s main rival in the presidential election, former Prosecutor General Alexandr Stoianoglo, had 26.32% of the vote, setting the stage for a Nov. 3 run-off in the poor ex-Soviet southeast European nation.

The vote goes to a run-off if no candidate clears the 50% mark.

In a statement to Moldovans, Sandu said late on Sunday that there was “clear evidence” that criminal groups working together with foreign forces hostile to Moldova’s interests sought to buy off 300,000 votes, something she called “fraud of unprecedented scale.”

“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.

The run-up to the vote was overshadowed by a slew of allegations of election meddling by fugitive tycoon Ilan Shor who lives in Russia. Moscow has denied interfering, while Shor denies wrongdoing.

Earlier this month, Moldovan police accused Shor, who was jailed in absentia for fraud and theft, of trying to pay off a network of at least 130,000 voters to vote “no” and support “our candidate” at the elections.

Shor has openly offered on social media to pay Moldovans to convince others to vote in a certain way and said that is a legitimate use of money that he earned.

In the early hours of Monday, he said Moldovans had voted against the referendum.

© Reuters. A voter casts a ballot at a polling station, as the country holds a presidential election and a referendum on joining the European Union, in Chisinau, Moldova October 20, 2024. REUTERS/Vladislav Culiomza

“Today I congratulate you, you lost the battle,” he added, addressing Sandu simply as Maia.

Ahead of the vote, Moldovan authorities took down online resources they said hosted disinformation, announced they had uncovered a programme in Russia to train Moldovans to stage mass unrest and opened criminal cases against allies of Shor.



Source link

Related Articles

Back to top button
bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) $ 84,064.52 1.36%
ethereum
Ethereum (ETH) $ 1,936.82 2.39%
tether
Tether (USDT) $ 1.00 0.01%
xrp
XRP (XRP) $ 2.35 1.42%
bnb
BNB (BNB) $ 624.10 3.74%
solana
Solana (SOL) $ 128.88 1.21%
usd-coin
USDC (USDC) $ 1.00 0.00%
cardano
Cardano (ADA) $ 0.720457 2.72%
dogecoin
Dogecoin (DOGE) $ 0.173858 2.84%
tron
TRON (TRX) $ 0.220097 3.38%
staked-ether
Lido Staked Ether (STETH) $ 1,934.94 2.65%
wrapped-bitcoin
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) $ 83,851.47 1.16%
pi-network
Pi Network (PI) $ 1.35 3.01%
leo-token
LEO Token (LEO) $ 9.78 2.49%
chainlink
Chainlink (LINK) $ 14.12 5.06%
the-open-network
Toncoin (TON) $ 3.47 1.25%
stellar
Stellar (XLM) $ 0.274319 3.46%
usds
USDS (USDS) $ 1.00 0.02%
wrapped-steth
Wrapped stETH (WSTETH) $ 2,317.26 2.71%
hedera-hashgraph
Hedera (HBAR) $ 0.192379 4.53%
avalanche-2
Avalanche (AVAX) $ 18.83 2.46%
shiba-inu
Shiba Inu (SHIB) $ 0.000013 2.08%
sui
Sui (SUI) $ 2.34 4.52%
litecoin
Litecoin (LTC) $ 92.87 2.84%
mantra-dao
MANTRA (OM) $ 7.00 3.39%
polkadot
Polkadot (DOT) $ 4.42 2.37%
bitcoin-cash
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 337.99 1.10%
ethena-usde
Ethena USDe (USDE) $ 0.999759 0.04%
weth
WETH (WETH) $ 1,934.58 2.20%
bitget-token
Bitget Token (BGB) $ 4.44 1.45%
binance-bridged-usdt-bnb-smart-chain
Binance Bridged USDT (BNB Smart Chain) (BSC-USD) $ 1.00 0.19%
hyperliquid
Hyperliquid (HYPE) $ 13.44 0.92%
whitebit
WhiteBIT Coin (WBT) $ 28.52 0.48%
wrapped-eeth
Wrapped eETH (WEETH) $ 2,055.69 2.26%
monero
Monero (XMR) $ 210.89 0.35%
uniswap
Uniswap (UNI) $ 6.33 2.95%
susds
sUSDS (SUSDS) $ 1.04 0.10%
aptos
Aptos (APT) $ 5.37 4.08%
dai
Dai (DAI) $ 0.999845 0.02%
near
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) $ 2.64 5.09%
pepe
Pepe (PEPE) $ 0.000007 12.16%
okb
OKB (OKB) $ 50.82 3.89%
internet-computer
Internet Computer (ICP) $ 6.01 7.19%
mantle
Mantle (MNT) $ 0.817187 0.88%
ethereum-classic
Ethereum Classic (ETC) $ 18.12 3.65%
ondo-finance
Ondo (ONDO) $ 0.867123 5.84%
gatechain-token
Gate (GT) $ 21.97 3.09%
tokenize-xchange
Tokenize Xchange (TKX) $ 33.57 12.34%
aave
Aave (AAVE) $ 176.31 6.47%
coinbase-wrapped-btc
Coinbase Wrapped BTC (CBBTC) $ 84,018.51 1.28%