Pro-EU forces in Moldova claim victory in questionable vote
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Excerpt:
The tiny European state of Moldova is increasingly being drawn into the maelstrom of NATO’s war against Russia. On Monday, the US-allied government of Maia Sandu claimed victory in a referendum held the day before over whether the country should join the European Union. According to the Central Election Commission, 50.39 percent of voters supported and 49.61 percent opposed EU ascension. Slightly more than half of those eligible to cast a ballot did so.
The validity of the vote is highly questionable. Until about 2 a.m. on October 21, news reports had indicated that, with nearly 94 percent of the votes counted, the proposal that Moldova change its constitution and join the EU was going down to defeat by a clear, if relatively small, majority. The situation then changed dramatically over the course of several hours. Ballots received from Moldovans elsewhere in Europe and in North America were included in the count, which tipped the scales in the opposite direction and delivered the pro-EU camp a razor-thin victory. The outcome was decided by just 10,564 ballots.