Pro-EU parties in narrow election lead in Moldova

BRUSSELS - Pro-EU parties are showing a narrow lead as votes continue to be counted in Moldova’s parliamentary elections, held on Sunday (30 November).

The BBC reports that around 80 percent of the votes had been counted as of the early hours of Monday.

The three pro-EU parties so far have around 44 percent of the votes as opposed to the Russia-leaning parties with some 40 percent.

The partial results indicate the pro-Russian Socialist party has received the most votes on 22 percent.

The pro-EU Liberal Democrats party is polling in second place with 19 percent, with the Communists a close third on 18 percent.

Two other pro-EU parties have 16 percent (Democrats) and 9 percent (Liberals).

A third pro-Kremlin party was banned on the eve of the elections after its 36-year old millionaire candidate Renato Usati was overhead making death threats in a recorded interview.

No single party is expected to win a majority. Reports suggest the pro-EU parties may form a coalition along with the more moderate Communists.

The Communist party, led by Vladimir Voronin, say they are not opposed to the EU but at the same time do not want to isolate Moscow.

The Socialists want to join the Russian-led Custom’s Union.

Moldova’s prime minister Iurie Leanca, for his part, wants the nation of some 3 million to one day become a member of the European Union.

“Our train is already on the move but has not reached the point of no return. If we stop on this European path, I can't even imagine when we will get another chance,” he said.

The EU and Moldova signed a free trade pact in June, which has been provisionally applied since the start of September. The European Parliament then endorsed the pact in November.

The agreement gives Moldova access to EU funds and loans.

The landlocked state between Ukraine and Romania is caught up in a geo-political tug of war with both Russia and the EU hoping to steer it into their own sphere of influence.

Russia’s presence is already felt with Moscow bankrolling Transnistria, a separatist breakaway region of Moldova.

The frozen conflict has divided the former Soviet nation since the 1990s, with some 1,500 Russian soldiers stationed in the de-facto state.

Amid calls by separatist leaders for Russia to annex the territory like Ukraine’s Crimea, Leanca has been careful not to provoke Moscow.

Last week he told Russian news agency Ria Novost that Moldova has no plans to join Nato and instead seeks to remain neutral.

Moldova also buys all its gas from Gazprom, Russia's state-owned export monopoly, via Cold-War-era pipelines linked to Russian and Ukrainian networks.