Chisinau

In a dramatic turn of events, Moldova has found itself in the throes of political upheaval just hours before local elections, as authorities banned the pro-Russian "Chance" party over concerns related to national security. The decision casts a shadow of uncertainty over Sunday's elections and threatens to disrupt the political landscape of the country.

The Moldovan district of Taraclia, populated mainly by Bulgarians, will preserve its integrity, which will guarantee the rights of the Bulgarian community there. Vice President Iliana Yotova received this assurance from the Speaker of the Moldovan Parliament, Igor Grosu. The Vice President is visiting Chisinau today.

When asked about the position of our country a little more than a month after the incident in Banjska, the president says:

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met on Tuesday morning with the President of Moldova, Maia Sandu, with the Greek leader reiterating Greece's support to Moldova's European perspective, government sources said.

Day 538 of the invasion of Ukraine. Summary of key events in the last 24 hours:

The director of the Moldovan Intelligence and Security Service, SIS, Alexandru Musteata, said on Monday that his institution he leads and the Prosecutor's Office for Combating Organised Crime and Special Cases, PCCOCS, had dismantled an FSB spy network in the country.

This was the second and biggest wave of deportations out of the three that the Soviet Union enacted in Moldova. Between 1941 and 1951 there were three waves of deportations, and historians estimate that the total number of deportees was between 80,000 and 120,000.

The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Sofia a few minutes ago.

He arrived in Bulgaria on a government plane with a flight from Chisinau.

Rustam Ashurov, 43, a Tajik criminal wanted in his home country for kidnapping a banker, died on Monday night in a hospital in the Moldovan capital after being seriously wounded by special forces officers at Chisinau International Airport while trying to enter the country.

BELGRADE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Monday evening he was very concerned over escalations in Kosovo-Metohija and Ukraine and pressure on Serbia that would result from that.