Moldovans gave the country's pro-Western governing party a clear parliamentary majority in a weekend election, defeating pro-Russian groups in a vote widely viewed as a stark choice between East and West.

President Maia Sandu said "Russia has not achieved its objectives" despite spending "a lot of money" in the country's election that saw the pro-Western governing party defeat pro-Russian groups.

"Russia has not achieved its objectives," said Sandu. "It has spent a lot of money in these elections, but the results show that they failed."

Landlocked between war-torn Ukraine and EU and NATO member Romania, Moldova was a Soviet republic until it proclaimed independence in 1991.

In recent years it has taken a clear Westward path, turning the country into a geopolitical battleground between Russia and Europe.

The outcome of Sunday’s high-stakes ballot was noteworthy considering Moldovan authorities’ repeated claims that Russia was conducting a vast “hybrid war” to try to sway the outcome and seize power in Chisinau.

With nearly all polling station reports counted on Monday, electoral data showed Sandu's pro-EU Party of Action and Solidarity, or PAS, securing 50.1% of the vote, while the pro-Russian Patriotic Electoral Bloc won 24.2%.

The Russia-friendly Alternativa Bloc came third, followed by the populist Our Party.

The right-wing Democracy at Home party also won enough votes to enter parliament.

The tense ballot Sunday pitted the governing PAS against several Russia-friendly opponents but no viable pro-European partners.

Electoral data indicate the party will hold a clear majority of about 55 of the 101 seats in the legislature.

Moldova applied to join the EU in 2022 in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and was granted candidate status that year.

Brussels agreed to open accession negotiations last year.