Tight outcome in Moldova’s pro-EU public referendum and presidential elections

Update 2: In the first press statement after the validation of the pro-EU referendum in the Republic of Moldova, president Maia Sandu thanked those who voted on Sunday, saying, “You decided that Moldova must go towards peace, towards well-being.”

“I am grateful to all the citizens who went to vote and freely said what they wanted for Moldova. More than 1,560,000 people went to the polling stations. […] Thanks to you, dear Moldovans, we have won the first battle in a difficult struggle on which the fate of our country depends. We fought fair and won fair in an unfair fight,” she stated, as quoted by Euronews Romania.

After processing 99.5% of votes, the share of those who voted ‘yes’ in the referendum for joining the EU increased to 50.42%, while the ‘no’ votes accounted for 49.58%. Meanwhile, according to early results quoted by Euronews Romania, Maia Sandu won the first round of the presidential elections with over 42% of votes.

Update: After counting almost 99% of the votes, the referendum result is still uncertain, with a minor difference between 'yes' and 'no', but with 'yes' votes now in the lead - 50.08% vs 49.92%, according to Biziday.ro.

Initial story: The referendum on Moldova’s European Union membership indicated a tight balance between those opting in favor and against inking the accession process in the country’s Constitution after counting the votes from 2,175 of the 2,219 polling stations: 50.11% ‘no’ votes versus 49.89% ‘yes’ votes, according to the country’s central electoral commission.

In the first ballot for the presidential elections, pro-EU president Maia Sandu was leading with 41.85% of the votes, followed by Socialist Party’s Alexandr Stoianoglo (26.35%), independent politician Renato Usatii (13.76%), and former governor of Gagauzia Irina Vlah (5.46%).

Even if the public referendum ends with marginal support in favor of Moldova’s EU accession, the tight result will justify the opposition’s protests against the process. President Sandu repeatedly said that the EU accession requires broad support from the population.

The turnout in the referendum exceeded 50%, well above the 33.3% threshold set by the Constitutional Court.