Moldovans were evenly split on Monday amid final counting in a geopolitically momentous referendum on European Union accession with 50.08% in favor and 49.92% against, electoral authorities said.

Russia has been accused of offering cash for votes in Moldova to skew a referendum on joining the EU. The vote on Sunday to change Moldova’s constitution to join the EU was only passed by a paper-thin majority of 50.03 per cent, despite predictions of a comfortable victory.

A referendum on Moldova joining the EU hung in the balance early Monday with almost all votes counted, as President Maia Sandu blamed an "unprecedented assault on our country's freedom and democracy" in a vote marred by fears of Russian meddling amid the war in neighbouring Ukraine.