Moldova's pro-European Union ruling party has won a resounding victory over its Russian-leaning rival in a key parliamentary election, an endorsement of the tiny nation's bid to join the EU and break free from Moscow's orbit.

The strong performance by President Maia Sandu's Party of Action and Solidarity against the Patriotic Bloc will be a relief for the government and its European partners who had accused Moscow of seeking to influence the outcome.

Polls leading up to the election put PAS and Patriotic Bloc neck-and-neck with neither likely to get close to a majority. The near-final tally by Moldova's electoral commission allows the government to push for its goal of EU membership by 2030.

It also spares Moldova the political horse trading that had threatened to invite more instabilit

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