A Romanian flag is seen in front of Moldovan students taking part in an annual rally calling for the reunification of Moldova and Romania as well as to commemorate Romania's National Day in Chisinau December 1, 2014. Moldova's pro-Europe parties appeared certain on Monday of being able to form a new coalition to press on with a drive towards the European mainstream after elections even though the pro-Moscow Socialist Party took first place.GLEB GARANICH/Reuters
Moldova's pro-European parties began talks on forming a coalition Monday as near-complete results showed them in a strong position despite a drop in support.
With 97.7 per cent of the vote counted, the three pro-Europe parties were ahead with support of about 45.5 per cent, while the two pro-Russia parties had 38.5 per cent. The pro-Europe share was down from nearly 52 per cent in 2010.
"I'm not very happy with results, but we can offer a skeleton to build a pro-European government," said Vlad Filat, Leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, which was in second place with nearly 20 per cent of the vote.
Sunday's parliamentary election took on wider significance with the unrest in neighbouring Ukraine. Moldova, like Ukraine, has a pro-Russia separatist region in its east. The Party of the Socialists, a pro-Russian group, led all parties with a 20.7-per-cent share of the vote.
Parties need to get at least 6 per cent to gain seats in the 101-member parliament.
The remaining votes to be counted were from absentees, and were expected to break more or less evenly between pro-Russians and pro-Europeans.
Although the pro-European parties could remain in government, they do not have enough seats to elect a president, which could lead to political fighting and possibly slow the pace of reforms.
Ion Tabarta, an analyst from the Politikon Institute of Political Studies, said the pro-European reforms "will probably continue."
"Moldova continues its pro-European path," said Marian Lupu, Leader of the fourth-place Democratic Party.
Analysts say the Socialists apparently gained votes because the country's top court had banned Patria, a pro-Russian party, from competing on the grounds it illegally received foreign funding. Its supporters likely switched to the Socialists.
Socialists Leader Igor Dodon called for election authorities and the Foreign Minister to resign, complaining that there had only been five polling stations in Russia.