Voters in Moldova today in the second round of the presidential elections will decide who will be the president of the country.

Polling stations in the country opened at 7:21 this morning local time, and will close at XNUMX:XNUMX p.m.

DPA presents the starting positions of the two contenders – the current pro-European president of the country, Maja Sandu, and the former chief prosecutor Alexander Stojanoglo, supported by the pro-Russian electorate.

Fifty-two-year-old Sandu could not get an absolute majority in the vote on October 20 – she was supported by 42,45 percent of the voters. However, this is the highest score among the 11 candidates.

Her rival Stojanoglu, whose candidacy was proposed by former President Igor Dodon's pro-Russian Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova, took second place with 25,98 percent.

Despite the significant difference between Sandu and her opponent in the first round, the outcome of today's second round is not considered predetermined, DPA states.

Moldova, whose economy relies mainly on agriculture, has candidate status for membership in the European Union, as does Ukraine. Although Sandu is still the favorite today, she has come under fire for the lack of economic and social progress in the country, which has a population of about 2,5 million.

The fifty-seven-year-old Stojanoglo advocates the line of simultaneous striving for entry into the EU and maintaining good economic relations with Russia.

Security services in Moldova announced that they had uncovered a pro-Russian vote-buying scheme ahead of the first round of elections.

After two votes in October, security services in Moldova announced that they had uncovered a pro-Russian vote-buying scheme ahead of the first round of elections.

After two votes in October, Moldovan law enforcement said the vote-buying scheme was orchestrated by Ilan Shor, an exiled oligarch currently living in Russia and convicted in absentia in 2023 of fraud and money laundering. Prosecutors say that between September and October, voters were paid $39 million. More than 130.000 of them received money through a Russian bank under international sanctions. Shore denies wrongdoing.

Hundreds of thousands of Moldovans living abroad - mainly in EU countries - as well as Moldovan citizens in the breakaway region of Transnistria, controlled by Russia, can exercise their right to vote in today's second round. Transnistria has been a source of tension during the war in neighboring Ukraine, particularly because it hosts a military base with 1.500 Russian troops.

The president in Moldova has significant powers in areas such as foreign policy and national security