Moldova’s President Maia Sandu was on course for victory in a second-round run-off on Sunday, preliminary results showed, putting the pro-EU leader on track for a second term during which she has pledged to bring the country closer to joining the EU.
Sandu, who spoke of a historic choice for the former Soviet country of 2.5mn between a future within the EU and a retreat into the Russian fold, was leading against Alexandr Stoianoglo, an ex-prosecutor-general new to politics, with 53.89 per cent of the vote on Sunday evening after 97 per cent of polling stations had filed their results.
She cheered the outcome after the preliminary results came in and said Moldovans had “saved” their country after months of warnings that Russia was running an intense campaign to interfere in the electoral process and skew the result.