Sawt Falasteen - Pro-EU Maia Sandu pulls ahead in tense Moldova presidential runoff

The election in the small nation sandwiched between war-torn Ukraine and the European Union could decide whether the ex-Soviet country stays on a pro-European path or tilts back toward Moscow's influence.

The key vote took place just two weeks after a referendum backed joining the EU by a razor-thin margin.

Sandu stood at 51.53 percent of the vote against 48.47 percent for Alexandr Stoianoglo, who is supported by the pro-Russian Socialists and whom Sandu fired as prosecutor general last year, according to results published by the election commission.

- 'Honest vote' -

"Thank you, thanks to all the people who believed in democracy and who defended their honest vote," Sandu, a 52-year-old former World Bank economist, told her jubilant supporters.

Like in Georgia, where the ruling party won a contested parliamentary election last weekend, Russia has been accused of seeking to sway voters. It has denied the allegations.

Moldovan authorities reported "attacks, provocations and attempts at destabilisation" on Sunday.

Police said they were investigating Russia's alleged use of "organised transportation" to Belarus, Azerbaijan and Turkey so people living in Russia could vote at Moldovan missions in those countries.

Cyberattacks and fake bomb threats also targeted out-of-country voting operations, authorities said.

In the first round on October 20, Sandu received 42.5 percent, while Stoianoglo gained 26 percent. But he has since secured the support of other defeated candidates.

Turnout was higher than in the first round.

"It is very important (to vote) because a change toward the better matters... (We want) Moldova to be a European country," Natalia Grajdeanu, 45, a wedding planner living in Ireland, told AFP as she voted in Chisinau.

But others expressed reluctance. Grigore Gritcan, a retired railway worker from the pro-Russian separatist region of Transnistria, said the ruling party is "deceiving" voters.

"Let there be peace, what we have now is not peace. People have nothing to eat, no work," he told AFP.

Sandu applied for Moldova to join the EU after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Accession negotiations formally opened in June.

In the October 20 referendum, 50.35 percent backed EU membership, with Sandu blaming "foreign interference" for the narrow result in the country of 2.6 million people.

Police said they uncovered a Russian vote-buying scheme that could have affected up to a quarter of the ballots.

Earlier on Sunday, Sandu called on voters to "be united".

"The thieves want to buy our vote, the thieves want to buy our country, but the power of the people is infinitely greater than any of their foul play," Sandu said casting her ballot.

- 'No Kremlin relations' -

Casting his vote, Stoianoglo, 57, said he wanted to create "a Moldova that does not beg, but develops harmonious relations with both East and West".

"I have no relations with the Kremlin," said Stoianoglo, who usually gives speeches that mix Russian with Romanian, the official language.

While Stoianoglo says he also favours joining the EU, he boycotted the referendum.

Moldova is deeply polarised. A large diaspora and the capital mostly favour joining the EU, while rural areas and the pro-Russian separatist regions of Transnistria and Gagauzia are against.

For Andrei Curararu, an analyst at the Chisinau-based WatchDog think tank, "the pressure is unprecedented" with more than $100 million estimated to have been spent on "destabilisation activities".

M.AbuKhalil--SF-PST