They just crossed the line. Very tight race in the end.
You could read this as a vote for alignment with Russia vs Europe, in which case I completely agree.
In another reading, it’s a pretty huge decision on changeing the status quo and giving up a significant amount of sovreignity to join a powerful supranational union of states. It’s not necessarily an obvious decision, and reasonable people might vote no.
I’d argue voting to enter the EU is quite different from voting to leave it, as there will usually be a chunk of relatively reasonable voters who are decently happy with the status quo and reluctant to change it.
The sovereignty thing is really overblown when you consider it in practical terms: You having the theoretical possibility to e.g. make favourable trade deals of your own is worth nothing when you don’t have the trade standing to actually get those deals. And that’s before you role-play as Westminster and sign anything just to be able to say that you signed something.
For a country the size of Moldova having EU negotiators hammer out those deals is a massive win, and they understand it, because unlike the UK they don’t mistake themselves for a global empire. Yes, Hungary is probably going to flood your salami market but that’s a small price to pay.
When it comes to Gaugazians OTOH I totally understand the apprehensiveness. They’re already a minority within Moldova and in the EU they’d be a tiny part of a tiny part of the whole. OTOH If they think that they’d be any better off in the Russian sphere then they’re delusional, the EU will actually defend their minority rights.
As I understand it, the main reasons for the EU being an issue at all in Moldova; is for more security against the Russians taking over the country, and the much needed economic help they will receive from the EU.
Also, it might facilitate (some) future integration with Romania.
