The number of supporters and opponents of Moldova’s accession to the European Union has equalised, according to preliminary vote counting data published by the Central Election Commission on its website.
As of 6:10 a.m., 50% (721,760 people) support European integration, the other 50% (721,672 people) oppose it. 97.66% of the protocols have been processed: 2167 out of 2219.
The referendum on Moldova’s European integration is to determine whether the country’s membership in the European Union will become a strategic goal of the state, which will be spelled out in the Constitution.
President Maia Sandu has called for support for European integration, a process she calls her main achievement as head of state: the politician signed the application in the spring of 2022, a few months later the EU granted the republic the status of a candidate for membership, and this summer the official negotiations began.
Meanwhile, there is no definite winner in the presidential election: 97.61 per cent of the protocols have been counted, the incumbent has 41.86 per cent of the votes, while her closest opponent Alexandr Stoianoglo has 26.32 per cent. If none of the candidates gets 50 per cent of the votes, a second round will be announced.
The turnout in the presidential election was 51.65 per cent, with a total of 1.5 million people voting.
