Chisinau (AFP) - A referendum on Moldova joining the EU passed with a razor-thin majority on Monday as pro-Brussels President Maia Sandu blamed the outcome on foreign meddling in a veiled reference to Russia, which denied the accusations.

The Kremlin called on Sandu to “prove” election interference in the ex-Soviet republic bordering war-torn Ukraine and alleged “anomalies” in Moldova’s vote count.

Sandu managed to top the first round of presidential elections held at the same time as the referendum on Sunday, but will face a tough second round against Alexandr Stoianoglo, a former prosecutor backed by the pro-Russian Socialists.

Sandu applied for her country of 2.6 million people to join the European Union following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

With more than 99 percent of the votes counted, the “yes” vote was slightly ahead at 50.28 percent – just 8,000 votes more than the anti-EU camp.

A stern Sandu said late Sunday that Moldova had witnessed “an unprecedented assault on our country’s freedom and democracy,” blaming “criminal groups, working together with foreign forces hostile to our national interests”.

In the presidential election, Sandu gained more than 42 percent of the vote, while Stoianoglo picked up a higher-than-expected 26 percent.

A second round is scheduled for November 3.

- ‘Weakens pro-European image’ -

The referendum result – even with the slim victory for the pro-EU camp – “weakens the pro-European image of the population and the leadership of Maia Sandu”, Florent Parmentier, a political scientist at Paris-based Sciences Po, told AFP.

Describing the result as a “surprise”, he said it would not impact the accession negotiations with Brussels, which began this June, though a clear “yes” would have been “a clear positive signal”.

Parmentier added the results “did not bode well for the second round” for Sandu, noting many of those who supported the nine other candidates on Sunday were more likely to vote for Stoiagnolu in the second round.

Sandu, 52, a former World Bank economist and Moldova’s first woman president, who beat a Moscow-backed incumbent in 2020, had been the clear favourite in the race, with surveys also predicting a “yes” victory in the referendum.

Sandu’s critics say she has not done enough to fight inflation in one of Europe’s poorest countries or to reform the judiciary.

In his campaign, Stoianoglo – who was fired as prosecutor by Sandu – called for the “restoration of justice” and vowed to wage a “balanced foreign policy”.

The 57-year-old abstained from voting in the referendum.

In Chisinau, voter Ghenadie, who declined to give his last name, said he was worried by what he saw as the country’s “Western” drift and thought the government was “making the situation worse” economically.

Another voter, Olga Cernega, a 60-year-old economist, said she had come to vote “for prosperity, peace and wellbeing in our country”.

- ‘Unprecedented’ vote-buying scheme -

Fears of Russian interference have been looming large.

Washington issued a fresh warning recently about suspected Russian interference, while the EU passed new sanctions on several Moldovans.

Ahead of the vote, Moscow “categorically” rejected accusations of meddling.

Police made hundreds of arrests in recent weeks after discovering an “unprecedented” vote-buying scheme that they say could taint up to a quarter of the ballots cast in the country of 2.6 million.

Police said millions of dollars from Russia aiming to corrupt voters were funnelled into the country by people affiliated to Ilan Shor, a fugitive businessman and former politician.

Convicted in absentia last year for fraud, Shor regularly brands Moldova a “police state” and the West’s “obedient puppet”.

“You have crushingly failed,” Shor posted on social networks after the vote.

In addition to the suspected vote buying, hundreds of young people were found to have been trained in Russia and the Balkans to create “mass disorder” in Moldova, such as using tactics to provoke law enforcement, according to police.