CHISINAU, Moldova – Moldovans in favor of securing their country's path to European Union membership have a razor-thin lead in a referendum vote, election data showed on Monday, as the pro-Western president accused “criminal groups” of trying to overturn the vote to undermine.

After nearly 99% of votes were counted in Sunday's referendum, in which voters were asked to decide whether to enshrine a path to the EU in the country's constitution, the “yes” vote crept in at 50.18%. of the total 1.4 million votes cast, according to the Central Election Commission.

More than 200,000 votes cast across the country's large diaspora leaned towards the EU path and were counted overnight. A loss would be a political disaster for the pro-Western government, which has strongly supported the pro-EU campaign.

“Criminal groups, in collaboration with foreign forces hostile to our national interests, have attacked our country with tens of millions of euros, lies and propaganda, using the most nefarious means to trap our citizens and our nation in insecurity and instability,” he told President Maia Sandu after about 90% of the votes were counted.

“We have clear evidence that these criminal groups aimed to buy 300,000 votes – a fraud of unprecedented proportions,” Sandu added. “Their goal was to undermine a democratic process.”

The vote came amid persistent claims by Moldovan authorities that Moscow had intensified a “hybrid war campaign” to destabilize the country and derail its path to the EU. The allegations include funding pro-Moscow opposition groups, spreading disinformation, interfering in local elections and supporting a large vote-buying program.

In the presidential election held at the same time, Sandu won the first round with 42% of the vote in a field of 11, but failed to win an absolute majority. She will face Alexandr Stoianoglo, a pro-Russia former prosecutor general who topped polls with about 26% of the vote, in a Nov. 3 runoff.

When polling stations closed at 9 p.m. on Sunday, more than 1.5 million voters – about 51% of those eligible to vote – had cast their ballots, according to the Central Election Commission.

Cristian Cantir, a Moldovan associate professor of international relations at Oakland University, told the Associated Press that polls may have “overstated pro-EU sentiment” in Moldova, which would not have come through without votes from outside the country.

“It will be particularly problematic because … it will feed into narratives spread by the Kremlin and pro-Russian forces,” he said.

U.S. national security spokesman John Kirby reiterated fears of Russian interference this week, saying in a statement: “Russia is actively working to undermine Moldova's elections and its European integration.” Moscow has repeatedly denied that it is interferes in Moldova.

In early October, Moldovan law enforcement authorities said they had uncovered a massive vote-buying scheme orchestrated by Ilan Shor, an exiled pro-Russian oligarch currently living in Russia, worth 15 million euros ($16.2 million). paid to 130,000 people to undermine the two ballots.

Shor was convicted in absentia last year of fraud and money laundering and sentenced to 15 years in prison for the disappearance of $1 billion from banks in Moldova in 2014. He denied the allegations, saying the payments were legal and citing a right to freedom of expression. Shor's populist, Russia-friendly Shor Party was declared unconstitutional and banned last year.

On Thursday, Moldovan authorities foiled another plot in which more than 100 young Moldovans in Moscow were trained by private military groups on how to incite civil unrest related to the two votes. Some also attended “more advanced training in guerrilla camps” in Serbia and Bosnia, according to police, and four people were held for 30 days.

A pro-Western government has been in power in Moldova since 2021, a year after Sandu won the presidency. Parliamentary elections will take place next year.

Moldova, a former Soviet republic with about 2.5 million inhabitants, applied to join the EU on February 24, 2022 following Russia's full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine and was granted candidate status alongside Ukraine in the summer. Brussels agreed to start accession negotiations in June.