Moldovans are voting on Sunday in an election to determine the country”s next president.
It could head to a runoff between President Igor Dodon and pro-European candidate Maia Sandu.
By 6:00pm in the country, over one million people had cast their votes and 106,000 people cast votes from overseas. For many voters, it’s a choice between a closer relationship to Europe or a closer relationship to Russia.
So what do people in Moldova, a country sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine think about the election?
Arina and Eduard live in the capital, Chisinau, with their daughter Eduarda and have worked abroad. They say that they hope things evolve in the country, especially for their daughter’s future.
“I wish that we will have a prosperous country, where the rule of law has the final say,” said Arina, who teaches university in the capital city.
Aliona, meanwhile, lives in the village of Speia, bordering the breakaway region of Transnistria, with her four boys, Dan, Andrei, David and Christian. She and her family are planning on supporting incumbent president Dodon, similar to many people in the region.
“Before we didn’t have good relations with Russia, and we are a country of farmers and when Russia installed the embargo, we could not sell our products,” said Aliona, an accountant in the village of Speia.
“This situation has changed in the last years and nobody should complain about selling their products to Russia,” she said.
“Also, another promise of the President is that the price of Russian gas will be lower, because this is a painful issue for all the country, and the bills for the gas should be lower so we can pay them,” Aliona added.