Moldovans are heading to the polls to cast ballots in a tense parliamentary election plagued by claims of Russian interference, a vote seen as a choice between integration with the European Union or a drift back into Moscow’s fold.
Sunday’s pivotal vote will elect a new 101-seat parliament, after which Moldova’s president nominates a prime minister, generally from the leading party or bloc, which can then try to form a new government. A proposed government then needs parliamentary approval.
Polls opened at 7 am (0400 GMT) and will close at 9 pm (1800 GMT). The Central Electoral Commission reported more than 400,000 people, or about 14 per cent of eligible voters, had cast ballots by 11 am.
Pro-Western and pro-Russian parties slug it out
The tense race pits the governing pro-Western Party of Action and Solidarity, or PAS, which has held a strong parliamentary majority since 2021 but risks losing it, against several Russia-friendly opponents but no viable pro-European partners, leavi
