With over 99.6 percent of ballots counted, Moldova's pro-EU ruling party has won Sunday’s elections with more than 50 percent of the vote, official results showed on Monday.
The Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) headed by President Maia Sandu won 50.06 percent of the vote, compared to 24.25 percent for the pro-Russian Patriotic Bloc, according to preliminary results published on the election commission's website
The election was seen as the most important since the country gained independence, as it will determine whether the country maintains its accelerated path toward European Union membership, or pivots back toward deeper ties with Moscow.
Voting was overshadowed by fears of vote buying and unrest, as well as "an unprecedented campaign of disinformation" from Russia, according to the EU.
Stanislav Secrieru, Sandu's national security adviser, said election infrastructure and government websites had come under cyber attack, and that fake bomb threats were called in to polling stations in Moldova and abroad.
Former President Igor Dodon, and a leader of the Patriotic Electoral Bloc, claimed the government was preparing to annul the vote should PAS lose its majority, and called on people to "peacefully protest" on Monday.
Turnout in the country of 2.4 million people stood at around 52 percent, similar to that of the last parliamentary elections in 2021.
Other parties set to enter parliament include the nominally pro-European Alternativa bloc, with eight percent of the vote, and the populist Our Party which won 6.2 percent.
An official final tally is expected later on Monday.
(with newswires)
