Slim Majority of Moldovans Vote Yes in EU Membership Referendum

A razor-thin majority of 50.4 percent of Moldovans voted yes on Monday in a referendum on whether to amend the constitution to establish EU membership as a national goal. In the presidential election, held alongside the referendum, President Maia Sandu won 42 percent of the vote, short of the 50 percent needed to win outright and paving the way for a Nov. 3 runoff against former prosecutor-general Alexandr Stoianoglo, who won 26 percent. Sandu is aiming for Moldova—a small country sandwiched between Ukraine to the east and Romania to the west—to join the bloc by 2030. Analysts said more than 200,000 from the largely pro-EU diaspora favored an EU path....