Moldova has voted in favour of joining the European Union by the barest of margins in a referendum fraught with allegations of Russian electoral interference.
The Yes campaign won the national referendum by less than one per cent, which amounts to just a few thousand votes.
50.18 per cent of a total 1.4 million ballots cast voted to join the EU, according to the Central Electoral Commission, in a result that has been described as a “defeat for Russia” by one MEP.
The run-up to the vote was mired by a slew of allegations of election meddling by fugitive tycoon Ilan Shor who lives in Russia.
Earlier this month, Moldovan police accused Shor, jailed in absentia for fraud and theft, of trying to pay off a network of at least 130,000 voters to vote “no” and support “our candidate” at the elections.
Shor has openly offered on social media to pay Moldovans to convince others to vote in a certain way and said is a legitimate use of money that he earned.
Speaking on Sunday evening, Moldova’s president, Maia Sandu, said: “We have clear evidence that these criminal groups aimed to buy 300,000 votes – a fraud of unprecedented scale.”
Sandu added: “Their objective was to undermine a democratic process.”
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