In Moldova, we held our EU referendum in Russia’s shadow. The result was too close for comfort | Paula Erizanu

Like Brexit, our vote on Europe teetered on a knife-edge. While the pro-EU side scraped a win, Russia is waiting to undermine it

I have now gone through two EU referendums in my life - Brexit and Moldova's 20 October vote on whether to include EU integration in its constitution. As an EU national in the UK, I was not able to cast my ballot in 2016. I remember the expectation most people had that Brexit would not win. I received the news while travelling in Spain and staying with a British national settled there, who could not vote in the referendum either. Some London-born friends told me they felt as though they could no longer recognise their country, which had been split in two. With that British experience on my mind, I had a sense of deja vu as I watched the results unfold in my native Moldova on Sunday night.

As opinion polls before the vote, which excluded Moldova's large, pro-European diaspora, suggested, there was between 54% and 65% support for the EU. The only fear for pro-European Moldovans was that the turnout would be too small to have the referendum validated. When it became clear that 51% of voters had showed up - more than in other recent elections - everyone in my bubble felt optimistic, posting pictures of their I voted" blue stickers given out at polling stations. I was in an echo-chamber.

Paula Erizanu is a Moldovan journalist and writer based in Chiinu