CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) – Moldovans have begun voting in elections where they are choosing between parties that want to move closer to Europe and those that want to move back into Russia’s orbit.
Sunday’s parliamentary election takes on wider significance with the unrest in neighboring Ukraine. Moldova, like Ukraine, has a pro-Russia separatist region in its east.
The impoverished former Soviet republic of less than 4 million is torn between re-electing the current pro-European coalition or choosing parties that want closer economic ties with Moscow.
Russia placed an embargo on Moldovan fruit after the country signed a trade association agreement with the European Union in June.
At least 600,000 Moldovans work abroad, half in the EU and the rest in Russia. Remittances make up about one-fifth of the country’s gross domestic product.
Four-fifths of Moldovans are of Romanian descent, but decades of Soviet rule left a strong imprint. The Liberal Party have campaigned under the slogan “”NO to the Russian boot, YES to the Romanian heart!” while pro-Russia parties will likely get votes from people angry with allegations of high-level corruption.
The Supreme Court on Saturday rejected an appeal for one pro-Russian party to run in Sunday’s election on the grounds that it illegally received foreign funding. Two other pro-Russian parties remain in the race.