Chisinau (AFP) - Moldova’s pro-Brussels President Maia Sandu on Monday said her camp “won justly in an unjust struggle” in an EU referendum and first-round presidential elections marked by claims of Russian interference.

The referendum on joining the EU passed with a razor-thin majority, while Sandu managed to come first in a key electoral test for her leadership of the former Soviet republic bordering war-torn Ukraine.

Sandu said “dirty interference” cost her camp support, after blaming “criminal groups, working together with foreign forces hostile to our national interests” for “an unprecedented assault” on Moldova’s democracy.

The Kremlin called on Sandu to “prove” allegations that it had interfered in the elections and alleged “anomalies” in Moldova’s vote count.

Sandu, 52, a former World Bank economist and Moldova’s first woman president, is expected to face a tough second round presidential vote on November 3 against Alexandr Stoianoglo, a former prosecutor backed by the pro-Russian Socialists.

A European Union spokesman said voting was marred by Russia’s “unprecedented interference and intimidation”.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said Moldova chose “a European future” despite “Russia’s hybrid tactics”.

- ‘Difficult fight’ -

Sandu, who beat a Moscow-backed incumbent in 2020, applied for Moldova to join the European Union following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and accession talks began this June.

With all the votes counted, the “yes” vote won with 50.46 percent in the referendum, according to results published by the electoral commission.

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

“We have won the first battle in a difficult fight that will determine the future of our country,” Sandu told reporters, calling on Moldovans to vote in the second round.

“We heard you: we know we must do more to fight corruption,” she added.

Stoianoglo called the vote result a “resounding and shameful failure” for the government.

“We have a huge chance to win on November 3 and we will win,” he told journalists at his party’s headquarters.

- ‘Profound divisions’ -

Sunday’s twin votes revealed “profound divisions”, according to Crisis Group’s senior EU analyst Marta Mucznik, who added that the impact of pro-Russian disinformation campaigns was “evident”.

“Both Brussels and Chisinau must brace for rising tensions and reconsider their strategies if they are to effectively promote the prospect of EU membership,” she said.

Sandu’s critics say she has not done enough to fight inflation in one of Europe’s poorest countries – population 2.6 million – 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.

Fears of Russian interference have loomed large.

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.

Police said millions of dollars from Russia aiming to corrupt voters were funnelled into the country.

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, including by using tactics to provoke law enforcement, according to police.

Moscow, in turn, said Moldovan authorities used “anti-democratic, totalitarian methods” in the election campaign, with Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Monday accusing the West of “blatant interference in the electoral process”.

Voter Eugeniu Panfi, a labourer, told AFP in Chisinau on Monday that Moldova “passed this (electoral) test… with difficulty but with gusto,” adding that “the hybrid war” with Russia continued.

burs-ani-jza/rlp