The tight finish - with fewer than 1.5% of the ballots still to be counted - is far from a resounding endorsement of the pro-EU path that Sandu has pursued

The election results have been tainted by allegations of Russian interference, with Moldovan lawmakers claiming that Moscow spent millions of dollars in a campaign to unseat pro-Western incumbent Maia Sandu and vote down the EU referendum.

By Iulian Ernst in Bucharest Results so far from the referendum on Moldova’s European Union membership indicate a tight balance between those opting in favour and against including the accession process in the country’s constitution.