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But under President Sandu, the country has launched talks to join the EU and last year held a referendum in which voters chose to enshrine the goal of accession to the bloc in their constitution.

From the mid-1950s Eurovision quickly established itself as a big deal in Western Europe, while in the Eastern bloc song festivals in Czechoslovakia and Poland acquired the occasional tag of 'Intervision'.

Like his two predecessors, Bayrou and Michel Barnier, he faces a hung parliament divided into three blocs with deeply differing political leanings, making it difficult to craft a budget palatable to a majority of MPs.

He cited the regional bloc Ecowas's free movement protocol that allows citizens of member states to enter and reside in other West African countries without a visa for up to 90 days.

The centre-right bloc has its own disagreements, so this election may end up with no clear majority when votes are counted on Monday evening.