Moldova’s pro-western president, Maia Sandu, has hailed voters’ refusal to be “bought” by Moscow after her ruling party held on to its parliamentary majority in Sunday’s pivotal election, bolstering the tiny country’s aspiration of joining the EU and distancing itself from Russia’s influence.

“We did not allow ourselves to be bought, intimidated or frightened,” she said on Monday. “We mobilised and defended our country through honest, democratic choice.

“Throughout this campaign, the Kremlin sought to divide us, to undermine our trust — in the state, in our institutions, in one another, and in our ability to resist. This election showed that yes, we have vulnerabilities, but also capable institutions and dedicated people.”

Sandu said the vote, from the country of 2.4 million, was a “strong mandate” to accede to the EU.

With more than 99.9% of ballots counted, her pro-western Action and Solidarity party (PAS) had 50.03% of the vote, putting it on track to win 55 of the 101 seats in parliament. That compared with 24.26% for a Moscow-leaning alliance of Soviet-nostalgic parties led by the former president Igor Dodon, according to results published on the election commission’s website.

A PAS supporter checks the election results on his phone. Photograph: Vadim Ghirdă/AP

PAS outperformed pre-election polls, which predicted it would stay the largest party but risk losing its majority – a result that could have curbed Sandu’s push to deliver EU membership within a decade.

The result marks a significant victory for Sandu, who has staked her presidency on a pro-European course and accused Russia of deploying unprecedented underhand tactics to sway voters in the impoverished country squeezed between Ukraine and Romania.

Power is shared in Moldova between the directly elected president and a prime minister appointed by parliament, with Igor Grosu, the PAS leader and a close ally of Sandu, expected to take the post.

The results will be greeted with a sigh of relief in Brussels and other European capitals, where there had been fears that Moscow could regain a foothold in a strategically vital region as it steps up its hybrid campaign across the continent.

The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, wrote on X: “Moldova, you’ve done it again. No attempt to sow fear or division could break your resolve.

“You made your choice clear: Europe. Democracy. Freedom. Our door is open. And we will stand with you every step of the way.”

Sunday’s election is a major boost for those hoping Moldova joins the EU, but the path to membership remains uncertain. The country still needs to push through a series of reforms and address the unresolved issue of Transnistria, the breakaway region where 1,500 Russian troops are stationed.

Results chart

Other European leaders struck a similar congratulatory tone. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, wrote on X: “Despite attempts at interference and pressure, the choice of the people of the Republic of Moldova has asserted itself with force.

“France stands by Moldova in its European project and in its momentum of freedom and sovereignty.”

This year’s parliamentary campaign was overshadowed by mounting allegations of Russian interference. Moldovan authorities accuse Moscow of funnelling millions of dollars into pro-Russian parties, vote-buying schemes and propaganda campaigns aimed at stoking anti-western sentiment.

Two pro-Russian parties were barred from the election on Friday over financing irregularities, a move that angered the opposition and drew sharp criticism from Moscow.

Polling stations on Sunday closed after a turbulent day marked by officials reporting attempts to disrupt the vote, including cyber-attacks on election systems and fake bomb threats at polling sites abroad.

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Stanislav Secrieru, Sandu’s national adviser, wrote on X that Moldovans were voting “under massive pressure from Russia and its proxies”.

Secrieru said bomb threats had been called in to voting stations in Brussels, Rome and the US. The ballots of Moldova’s sizeable diaspora, which tends to back closer ties with Europe, were expected to play a decisive role in the outcome.

The Kremlin, meanwhile, accused Moldova of curbing the voting rights of its citizens in Russia by providing only three polling stations there, compared with far more in Europe and the US.

Dodon, who heads the Patriotic bloc opposing Sandu’s pro-European course, rejected the results, saying his allies had documented electoral violations and were compiling evidence. He joined other opposition parties in staging a protest in Chișinău on Monday.

People attend the protest organised by Igor Dodon in Chișinău. Photograph: Paul Dza/SIPA/Shutterstock

Moscow has consistently rejected claims of interference in Moldova, labelling them “anti-Russian” and “unsubstantiated”. Yet the outcome will come as a setback for the Kremlin, which Moldovan officials say invested unprecedented time and resources in supporting pro-Russian parties.

A western intelligence official said that in recent months Moscow had made Moldova its “key foreign policy priority after Ukraine”, noting that the Kremlin had reshuffled the team handling Moldova earlier this year to pursue a more aggressive strategy.

Since gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Moldova has oscillated between building closer ties with Brussels and clinging to Soviet-era relations with Moscow.

Sandu is a former World Bank official who was elected as president in 2020 on a wave of anti-corruption sentiment. Her government oversaw a referendum last October in which Moldovans voted narrowly to enshrine EU membership as a constitutional goal. On the same day, Sandu was re-elected as president for a four-year term.

She will now hope to tackle her administration’s main vulnerability: the economy. Inflation remains stubbornly high, emigration shows no sign of slowing and GDP growth has been modest.

Her supporters argue these problems stem largely from external shocks, with Russia’s war in Ukraine disrupting trade routes, triggering an energy crisis and forcing Moldova to take in tens of thousands of refugees.