Early results show 50% of Moldovans vote 'yes' at referendum on EU aspirations

CHISINAU (Reuters) -Half of Moldovans voted "yes" in Sunday's referendum on the country's EU aspirations, early results showed, putting the small nation tugged between East and West on a path towards joining the single market despite pressure from Russia.

At 0300 GMT on Monday with 97.66% of the vote counted, 50% of Moldovans voted "yes", according to results given on Moldova's Central Election Commission's website.

The final result was still in the balance, however. Hours earlier, partial results had shown 57% unwilling to commit to joining the EU.

Analysts said ballots from the largely pro-EU diaspora were counted towards the end, giving the "yes" campaign last-moment push.

While far from a major success, the results work in favour of the incumbent pro-EU president Maia Sandu, who was running in Sunday elections to keep her post. Early on Monday, she had 41.91% of the vote with 97.7% of the vote counted.

The referendum and the presidential vote are seen as a test of the deeply divided nation's willingness to keep close ties with Russia or to embark on the potentially lengthy process of joining the European Union.

Sandu's main rival in the presidential election, former Prosecutor General Alexandr Stoianoglo, had 26.32% of the vote, setting the stage for a Nov. 3 run-off in the poor ex-Soviet southeast European nation.

The vote goes to a run-off if no candidate clears the 50% mark.

In a statement to Moldovans, Sandu said late on Sunday that there was "clear evidence" that criminal groups working together with foreign forces hostile to Moldova's interests sought to buy off 300,000 votes, something she called "fraud of unprecedented scale."

"Their objective was to undermine a democratic process. Their intention was to spread fear and panic in society... We are waiting for the final results, and we will respond with firm decisions," she said.

The run-up to the vote was overshadowed by a slew of allegations of election meddling by fugitive tycoon Ilan Shor who lives in Russia. Moscow has denied interfering, while Shor denies wrongdoing.

Earlier this month, Moldovan police accused Shor, who was jailed in absentia for fraud and theft, of trying to pay off a network of at least 130,000 voters to vote "no" and support "our candidate" at the elections.

Shor has openly offered on social media to pay Moldovans to convince others to vote in a certain way and said that is a legitimate use of money that he earned.

In the early hours of Monday, he said Moldovans had voted against the referendum.

"Today I congratulate you, you lost the battle," he added, addressing Sandu simply as Maia.

Ahead of the vote, Moldovan authorities took down online resources they said hosted disinformation, announced they had uncovered a programme in Russia to train Moldovans to stage mass unrest and opened criminal cases against allies of Shor.

(Reporting by Tom Balmforth and Alexander Tanas in Chisinau; Additional reporting and writing by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Stephen Coates)