The EU and Moldova share a common future, says EU chief diplomat

The European Union remains committed to continue supporting Moldova’s democratic development, reforms and economic growth as well as strengthening its resilience on its path towards the EU, the bloc’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.

“The EU and Moldova share a common future,” he said in a statement in response to results showing that a slight majority of Moldovans in a referendum voted in favour of joining the EU.

People in Moldova have backed the Eastern European country’s proposed changes to its constitution and commitment to joining the EU by the thinnest of margins in a referendum.

Official data put Yes on 50.46% and No on 49.54% on Monday afternoon, with more than 99.6% of votes counted.

The knife-edge nature of the vote has come as a shock to many. The referendum had been widely expected to comfortably pass in the country of 2.6 million, which borders Romania and Ukraine.

The vote was combined with presidential elections in which Maia Sandu, the incumbent pro-EU president, failed to win re-election outright and faces a second round next month.