Maia Sandu wins presidential elections in Moldova thanks to diaspora

Incumbent Moldovan President Maia Sandu is leading in the second round of the presidential elections with 55.36% of votes, while former Prosecutor General Alexandr Stoianoglo has 44.64%, according to preliminary results released by the Central Election Commission after 99.73% of the votes were processed.

Thus, Sandu has won a second term in a presidential runoff against Stoianoglo.

The vote marked the largest number of expatriate voters to take part in a Moldovan election since 2010 when the diaspora was first allowed to vote.

Inside Moldova's borders, the results showed Sandu actually lost the election to Stoianoglo by a small margin of 48.8% versus his 51.2%. By contrast, she looked on course to win more than 80% of the diaspora vote, which was still being counted.