Moldovans were evenly split on Monday amid final counting in a geopolitically momentous referendum on European Union accession with 50.08% in favor and 49.92% against, electoral authorities said.

The Kremlin has complained after Moldova narrowly voted for closer ties with the European Union. The Yes campaign won the national referendum by less than one per cent, just a few thousand votes.

In an address to the southeast European nation on the day of the referendum, Ms Sandu said there was “clear evidence” that criminal groups working with foreign forces hostile to Moldova’s interests sought to buy off 300,000 votes, something she called “fraud of unprecedented scale”.