Moldova: Exit polls last night put the Communists ahead in Moldova's general election, which took place amid tight security after border police turned back 100 Russians the government accused of trying to disrupt the elections.
Two opposition parties however appeared to be doing well enough in the poll to deny the Communists under President Vladimir Voronin the outright majority they currently have.
The exit poll gave the Communists 42 per cent, with the centrist Democratic Moldova Bloc winning 28 per cent. The pro-Romanian Christian Democrats were third with 14 per cent.
The election took place amid a background of growing tension between this former member of the Soviet Union and Moscow. Russians arrived at the border by car claiming to be election monitors but were refused entry to the Balkan republic by police who said they were not registered with the official monitoring mission.
On Friday, Russian parliamentarians called for economic sanctions to be levelled against Moldova, accusing it of blockading ethnic Russians in the country's eastern enclave of Trans-Dnistre. Russian MPs are also angry after Mr Voronin reversed his country's plans to make Russian an official language along with Moldova's main tongue, Romanian.
The economy is centre-stage of the election in what is Europe's poorest country. Christian Democrat leader Iurie Rosca has campaigned for an "Orange Revolution" similar to those that saw opposition parties win recent elections in Moldova's neighbours, Ukraine and Romania.
He has accused the Communist government of cronyism and corruption and for being responsible for harsh economic conditions that have driven an estimated 30 per cent of the population to migrate, mostly illegally.
But in recent weeks the Communists have performed a policy about-turn, adopting the opposition's call for Moldova to abandon ties with Russia in favour of closer links with the EU.
The government has expelled more than 40 Russian businessmen, accusing them of irregularities, and has backtracked on a proposed autonomy deal for ethnic Russians. While antagonising Moscow, this policy may prove a vote-winner, stealing the thunder from opposition parties.