A big upheaval in Chisinau, the "Russian advantage" melted away in a few hours

AUTHOR: M.J. GDNUS
2184 polling stations out of 2219 were processed, and the situation is still very tight in Moldova and everything is possible, but the trend of increasing advantages for Moldova in the EU is visible.
After 98.42 percent of the ballots were counted, 732,967 people voted for joining the European Union, while 730,682 voted against.
The difference is, therefore, 2,285 votes in favor of Moldova joining the European family, reports Jutarnji.
Earlier today, it was announced that the advantage for Moldova's "no" to Europe melted away in a few hours.
After 98.33 percent of the votes were counted, 50.03% voted for joining the EU in the referendum, and 49.97% voted against.
Moldovan President Maja Sandu condemned the "unprecedented attack on democracy" on Monday night, after, at that moment, the "no" answer clearly won in the referendum related to EU accession as the country's constitutional-strategic goal.
Namely, after almost 90 percent of the votes were counted, the answer 'no' to the referendum question about introducing into the constitution the country's strategic goal of joining the EU received 53.9 percent of the votes.
Such an answer was a surprise for many, because recent public opinion polls showed that as many as 63 percent of Moldovan citizens are in favor of the country's European orientation and distancing itself from Moscow.
But in the next few hours, an unprecedented political drama ensued.
Namely, after 97 percent of the votes were counted, the difference dropped to 50.18 percent for the pro-Russian "No" and 49.82 percent for the pro-European "Yes".
"Criminal groups, acting in concert with foreign powers, hostile to our national interests, attacked our country with tens of millions of euros, lies and propaganda" in order to "capture our country in uncertainty and instability," European-oriented President Maja Sandu told reporters in Chisinau, reports AFP.
As reported by the BBC, referring to the widespread accusations of vote buying, which is allegedly behind Russia, Sandu also said that her government has "clear evidence" that 300,000 votes were bought, which she called an unprecedented fraud.
"We are waiting for the final (election) results and we will respond with strong decisions," Sandu said.
The Kremlin, meanwhile, has rejected accusations of vote-buying.
In addition to the referendum, presidential elections were also held in Moldova.
Incumbent Sandu received 41.8 percent of the vote, while her main opponent, Oleksandr Stojanoglo, was on 26.3 percent after more than 98 percent of the votes were processed.