Presidents of Moldova

Opposition parties critical of President Maia Sandu's pro-European stance have joined forces in Moscow, forming a pre-election bloc with ambitions to contest upcoming presidential elections and a pivotal referendum on EU membership.

A Moldovan deputy for the pro-Russian Socialist Party, Alla Dolinta, resigned on Wednesday from parliament and from the Socialist Party of Moldova, PSRM, because of the party's stance on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

"For over four-and-a-half months, in a neighbouring state, Ukraine, which is essentially my home because my parents were born there, is at war," she said.

Moldovan president Maia Sandu on Sunday promulgated the Informational Security Law, which will ban the broadcast in Moldova of Russian TV news and political analysis.

The law, designed to counter Russian propaganda about the war in Ukraine, says that the ban will still apply after the expiration of the state of emergency established in Moldova after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Moldovan President Maia Sandu has told Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that Moldova pays large sums of money for Russian gas - and the country's intentions to join the EU have been known for years.

The director of Moldova's National Anti-Corruption Centre, Iulian Rusu, announced on Monday evening the seizure of oligarch Ilan Shor's assets in the country.

"The seizures applied by the Criminal Assets Recovery Agency reached the amount of 1.5 billion lei [about 75 million euros]. These are properties from Moldova," Rusu told TV8.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov held a video conference with the President of the Republic of Moldova Maia Sandu. Prime Minister Petkov confirmed Bulgaria's support for the country's European perspective, which he will express at the forthcoming European Council. He welcomed President Sandu's strong commitment to leading Moldova on its European path and on the path of reform.

Suspense

ormer President of Moldova Igor Dodon (C) is escorted by law officers during the court hearing process in Chisinau, Moldova, 26 May 2022. Former President of Moldova Igor Dodon is accused of passive corruption, illegal party financing, betrayal of the homeland and illicit enrichment. EPA-EFE/DUMITRU DORU

The director of the Moldovan Intelligence and Security Service, SIS, Alexandru Esaulenco, resigned on Monday amid the detaining scandal regarding the former pro-Russian president, Igor Dodon, for corruption and high treason to Russia.

Former Moldovan president Igor Dodon on Wednesday said his detention on Tuesday on treason charges was "a political case", claiming that the governing pro-European Action and Solidarity Party, PAS, was pusuing a vendetta.

Pro-Russian former Moldovan President Igor Dodon was detained by prosecutors on Tuesday on four charges including corruption and treason.

Investigators searched Dodon's Chisinau home, his mother's house and a villa being built by the Dodon family by the Dniester River, seizing tens of thousands of euros in cash and half a million lei [25,000 euros], anti-graft prosecutors said.