The polls close in on the presidential election and EU referendum

Polls have closed in Moldova, where people are voting in the country’s presidential election and a referendum on whether to include the goal of joining the European Union in the constitution.

Voter turnout reached more than 51% when polls closed at 21:00 local time (18:00 GMT), making the referendum effective.

Incumbent pro-EU President Maia Sandu is hoping to win a second term.

She faces 10 opponents, some of whom favor close ties with Russia. If no presidential candidate wins more than half of the vote, the top two candidates will enter a runoff in two weeks.

After voting in Moldova’s capital Chisinau earlier on Sunday, Sandu pointed to the referendum vote as one that will determine Moldova’s future for “decades to come.”

She added that people are choosing for themselves how they and their country should live, and warned Moldovans not to let what she called “dirty money” determine their votes – a consensus clear love with Moldovan authorities’ accusations of a vote-buying campaign linked to Russia. The Kremlin has firmly denied these claims.

One of Sandu’s opponents, Aleksandr Stoianoglo – who is backed by the pro-Russian Socialist Party – said he did not vote in the referendum because he did not support the idea of ​​changing the constitution – although he said adding that he is a supporter of his country’s policies. “European Aspiration”.

Young people lining up at polling stations said they voted because they wanted to choose a European future for their country – for economic benefits and more opportunities.

Some said they were fed up of being “pulled” toward Moscow, decades after the Soviet Union collapsed and Moldova gained independence.

One voter named Oksana told the BBC: “We must choose a European future for our country, for our children, our future – for geopolitics, for peace, that is the most important thing. ”. “Because we are in the midst of European and Russian influence and we have to choose what we want.”

At a polling station for residents of Moldova’s separatist Transnistria region – which is supported economically, politically and militarily by Russia – the BBC accidentally discovered evidence of vote buying.

A BBC producer heard a woman who had just put her ballot in a transparent box asking the election supervisor where she would get paid.

Outside, we asked her directly whether she was given cash to vote and she admitted it without any qualms. She was angry because the man who sent her to the polling station was no longer answering her calls. “He tricked me!” she said.

She would not answer when asked who she voted for.

In September, Ilan Shor – the fugitive Moldovan businessman accused of moving large amounts of cash into the country from Russia – offered money to persuade “as many people as possible” to vote No or abstain in the referendum in the EU.

This week, Shor then released a video statement asking people to vote for “anyone but Sandu” in the presidential election.