Pro-European Parties Narrowly Win Moldova Poll

Pro-European parties in Moldova secured a narrow win Monday over those backing closer ties with former master Russia in a parliamentary election held against the backdrop of the bloody conflict in neighboring Ukraine.

Three parties backing integration with the European Union together won about 44 percent in Sunday's vote, seen as a litmus test for the aspirations of the impoverished and politically volatile country.

Pro-Russian parties were just behind with about 40 percent, according to partial results issued with 88 percent of the votes counted.

The three pro-European parties -- the Liberal Democrats, the Liberals and the Democrats -- have enough votes to form a coalition, gaining about 54-56 seats in the 101-member parliament against 45-47 for the pro-Moscow parties.

But their narrow win and differences among the three mean there could be tough bargaining ahead to form a government in the country, where Russia has troops in the breakaway pro-Kremlin region of Transdniestr.

Adding to the complexity of the situation, Mikhai Ghimpu, leader of the right-wing Liberal party which backs joining NATO, is seen as a tough negotiator.

Sunday's vote came with Russia and the European Union locked in a tug-of-war over the fate of Moldova as well as Ukraine, another former Soviet state where Moscow-backed separatists in the east have been fighting Kiev's rule since April.

Moscow does not want to part ways with Moldova, while the EU is keen to make the country a symbol of its own soft power strength.

In June, Chisinau's outgoing pro-European government signed a landmark association treaty with Brussels in the face of bitter opposition from Moscow, which retaliated with an embargo on imports of many Moldovan foods.

"It looks like the country's pro-European course will remain in place," said one pro-European Moldovan voter, Mariana Virnav.

The 29-year-old IT specialist said she had been afraid pro-Russian parties could win and was even thinking of leaving the country.

"Moldova has no future outside Europe," she said.

Russia in October vowed to protect its citizens in Transdniestr and warned the West against meddling.

"There is no need to indulge in any illusions about whether Russia will protect its own citizens," said Russia's tough-talking Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin.

Tensions with Moldova over the fate of the breakaway region have been festering for years but have gained fresh momentum since the insurgency in eastern Ukraine erupted eight months ago.

Transdniestr, a strip of land bordering Ukraine, broke away from Moldova after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and a brief civil war the following year.

Ahead of the vote, Prime Minister Iurie Leanca had urged Moldovans to cast their ballot for a future in Europe.

"Our train is already on the move but has not reached the point of no return," Leanca said. "If we stop on this European path, I can't even imagine when we will get another chance."

The presidents of Poland, Romania and Ukraine and German Chancellor Angela Merkel had backed the pro-EU campaign in the country of about 3.6 million.

"If the pro-European parties win, Moldova's course towards European integration could become irreversible," said Arcadie Barbarosie, executive director of the Institute for Public Policy in Chisinau.

Controversially, a pro-Russian party, Patria or Motherland, was excluded from the vote just days before the poll over alleged illegal financing from abroad.

In a major surprise, the pro-Russian Socialist Party came first with 21.6 percent of the vote.

Another pro-Moscow party, the Communists, who want to revise Moldova's treaty with the EU, came third, with 17.8 percent of the vote.

Political analyst Olga Goncearova said Sunday's poll showed the emergence of a new and ambitious pro-Russian leader, 39-year-old Igor Dodon of the Socialist Party.

"The Communist Party with its aging leader Vladimir Voronin is exiting the political stage," she added.

Partial results gave the Liberal Democrats 19.3 percent of the vote, the Democrats 15.7 percent and the Liberals 9.4 percent.

Around 78 percent of Moldova's population is ethnic Romanian, while Ukrainians and Russians account for around 14 percent.