Sandu decries 'unprecedented' meddling as EU referendum goes to wire

A knife-edge majority of 50.17% voted "yes" in Moldova's pivotal referendum on joining the European Union, nearly final results showed on October 21, after President Maia Sandu said the twin votes had been marred by "unprecedented" outside interference.

In the early hours of Monday, Sandu addressed Moldovan citizens, saying there was "clear evidence" that criminal groups working together with "foreign forces hostile to our national interests" had sought to buy off 300,000 votes.

She said this amounted to "fraud of unprecedented scale".

While the still waiting for the final results, she said, Moldova would "respond with firm decisions", without elaborating.

A presidential election, which took place simultaneously, handed Sandu 42% of the vote while her main rival, former prosecutor-general Alexandr Stoianoglo won 26%, setting up a tightly fought run-off between the two on November 3.