Pro-European candidate leads in Moldova local vote

CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — Near-final results gave the pro-European candidate a comfortable lead in the runoff for mayor of Chisinau on Sunday, in an election seen as a test of whether the former Soviet republic moves closer to the European Union or to neighboring Russia.

With 95.78 percent of the votes counted, incumbent Dorin Chirtoaca, had 52.43 percent of the vote with his pro-Russian challenger Zinaida Greceanai trailing with 47.57 percent.

Last year, it signed an association agreement with the 28-nation EU, angering Russia, which then banned some of its fruits and vegetables, hurting the largely agricultural nation.

Moldovan officials, meanwhile, have been investigating the disappearance of $1.5 billion from state-owned and private banks before the parliamentary election last November, and Shor is being investigated in that probe.