President Maia Sandu's pro-European Party of Action and Solidarity surged toward a parliamentary majority Sunday in a high-stakes vote shadowed by allegations of unprecedented Russian meddling, with turnout climbing to 52 percent as voters weighed Chisinau's EU ambitions against Moscow's pull.

With over 99 percent of 1.6 million ballots tallied, PAS held 50 percent—up from 52.8 percent in 2021—securing 55 of 101 seats without need for coalition partners, trouncing the pro-Russian Patriotic Electoral Bloc's under 25 percent.

Sandu, re-elected last November, framed the contest as a democracy litmus test: "Don't play with your vote or you'll lose everything," she urged, spotlighting threats from disinformation floods and vote-buying rings tied to the Kremlin.

Opposition firebrand Igor Dodon, of the Socialist Party in the Patriotic Bloc, pre-empted results with a victory call and Monday protest summons outside parliament, decrying "harassment" of Transnistria voters—where turnout dipped below 12,000 amid long hauls to polls and a bomb scare shutdown.

One barred pro-Russian party cited illicit funds, while police nabbed dozens for alleged Serbia arms training and unrest plots; Moscow dismissed the charges as Western-fueled distractions from local woes like inflation and graft.

Bomb hoaxes hit diaspora stations in Italy, Romania, Spain, and the U.S., plus Moldova proper, where three arrests followed post-vote stirrings—blamed by PAS chief Igor Grosu on Moscow-backed criminals. Chisinau's Russia-flanked geography, including the pro-Kremlin Transnistria enclave with its 1,500 Russian troops, amplified fears, as voters like Chisinau mother Marina voiced EU hopes for stability: "We see what happens in Ukraine."

The outcome cements Moldova's 2022 EU candidacy alongside Ukraine, dodging reliance on populist or Alternativa blocs, though Dodon's street call risks flare-ups in a nation reeling from war spillover and economic strains.