Europe Moldova corrects results for EU referendum

Following the extremely close EU referendum in the former Soviet republic of Moldova, the electoral commission has corrected the results slightly to the disadvantage of the victorious pro-European supporters.

Accordingly, more than 1,000 "yes" votes were dropped and added to the opponents. According to the new results, 50.38 percent of participants voted in favor of irrevocably establishing a pro-European course as a strategic goal in the constitution. That was 750,075 yes votes against 738,799 no votes (49.62 percent).

According to Moldovan media, people in the majority of regions in the country voted against the constitutional amendment. The hundreds of thousands of Moldovans living abroad - mainly in the EU - tipped the scales in the other direction.

Result of the presidential election unchanged, Sadu goes into the run-off

The result of the presidential election held in parallel on Sunday remained unchanged. Incumbent Maia Sandu received 42.45 percent of the vote. Her opponent in the second round on November 3 will be former Attorney General Alexandru Stoianoglo. He received 25.98 percent of the vote and ran for the traditionally strong Socialist Party of the pro-Russian former president Igor Dodon. According to the electoral commission, 51.68 percent of voters took part in the vote for president.

Moldova, with a population of 2.5 million, has traditionally been torn between the West and Russia. The impoverished agricultural country, located between EU and NATO member Romania and Ukraine, which is under attack from Russia, is a candidate for EU membership.

SDA