FALCON POWERS – The first batch of preliminary results indicated the referendum on Moldova’s EU future was a “no,” but a last-minute spike in votes in favour from the eastern European country’s diaspora won the referendum by the slimmest of margins.
A referendum on Moldova’s EU membership bid passed by an extremely slim margin, with the difference between “yes” and “no” votes counted in hundreds.
Although early preliminary counts showed Moldovans largely rejected the proposal to enshrine the eastern European country’s EU path in its constitution, a boost of votes from Moldovans abroad gave the “yes” camp a much-expected boost.
According to the latest preliminary result, with 99.5% of votes counted, the two camps remain firmly divided, with 50.3% of voters in favour and 49.7% against, but the count shows the referendum has passed.
Earlier on Monday, the difference between them was a mere 744 votes “yes”.
Turnout for Sunday’s vote surpassed 50%, much above the 33% needed for the referendum to be valid.
Moldova’s President Maia Sandu, who looked set to win the first round of a presidential race Monday, accused “criminal groups” of undermining a referendum asking voters to decide whether to secure a path toward EU membership, which risked being narrowly rejected.
In early October, Moldovan law enforcement said it had uncovered a massive vote-buying scheme orchestrated by Ilan Shor, an exiled pro-Russia oligarch who currently resides in Russia, which paid €15 million to 130,000 individuals to undermine the two ballots.
