Moldovan voters are choosing in their presidential elections between pro-European incumbent Maia Sandu and challenger Alexandr Stoianoglo, who favors closer ties with Russia, this Sunday.
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00:00Moldovan voters are choosing in their presidential elections between pro-European incumbent Maya
00:09Sandu and challenger Alexander Stoyanoglou, who favours closer ties with Russia on Sunday.
00:17In the first round, Sandu led with 42% of the vote, while Stoyanoglou received 26%.
00:25Since no candidate received more than 50% of the votes, they face a run-off election.
00:31The former Soviet Republic aspires to join the European Union, but is caught in a constant
00:37geopolitical tug between Moscow and the West.
00:41Moldova is one of Europe's poorest countries, therefore watchdogs believe that many citizens
00:46could be influenced by electoral corruption for small sums of money.
00:51In a national referendum held on October 20, Moldovans voted narrowly, with 50.35%
00:58in favour of pursuing EU membership.
01:01However, Moldovan law enforcement accused exiled oligarch Ilan Shor of allegedly paying
01:07nearly 35 million euros to over 130,000 voters in a Moscow-backed voting-buying scheme.