Moldova’s pro-European President Maia Sandu has comfortably won the second round of the country’s presidential elections, securing 55.3% of the popular vote, against 45.7% for her main challenger, Alexandr Stoianoglo, the candidate of the Russia-friendly Party of Socialists. Despite an initially close race in which countryside votes were counted first, Sandu’s victory was eventually confirmed by the capital Chisinau and support from the Moldovan diaspora.

As in the case of the first round of the presidential election, the second was also overshadowed by alleged Russian interference aimed at tipping the result in favour of Stoianoglo.

While Sandu and the ruling Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) hoped to cement Moldova’s pro-EU aspirations with a landslide victory in the recent constitutional referendum held with the first round, only a knife-edge majority voted to enshrine the country’s EU trajectory in the constitution. At the same time, the results of both the presidential election and the referendum remain arguably significant (particularly in view of Russian meddling efforts) and may provide new impetus for EU membership talks.

With the elections now concluded, Sandu and the PAS-led government are expected to focus on domestic issues, particularly rooting out corruption and improving the economy. Whether her pro-European agenda can be advanced in the coming years will also depend on the country’s upcoming parliamentary elections, set to be held in 2025.