Moldovans cast ballots in election between East and West

Voters in Moldova are casting their ballots in a snap parliamentary election that is a choice between East and West

BUCHAREST -- Voters in Moldova were casting their ballots Sunday in a snap parliamentary election that is a choice between East and West. The vote was called by President Maia Sandu, who aims to gain a parliament made up of pro-Western reformists that have pledged to tackle corruption in the former Soviet republic and forge closer ties with the European Union. It is a vote that could see the small nation of 3.5 million people — Europe's poorest landlocked country between Ukraine and Romania — follow a pro-Western path of reform or form closer ties with Russia. More than 3 million registered voters will choose between more than 20 parties, but the main battle will be between the pro-reform Party of Action and Solidarity, or PAS, and a pro-Russia bloc made up of Socialists and Communists. Only four of the 20 parties are expected to enter the country’s 101-seat legislature.