Chisinau

The Moldovan authorities have authorised simultaneous protests in the Great National Assembly Square in Chisinau on Saturday for pro-Romanian Unionists and for pro-Russian Socialists members and sympathizers.

Ahead of massive protests scheduled for Sunday, August 26, in the main square of Chisinau, Moldova's ruling Democratic Party, PD, has started an aggressive media campaign, claiming Russia is behind the protests.

The campaign has connected political leaders to prominent figures in civil society in Moldova to the Russian secret service, the FSB, which allegedly is behind the protests.

A government decision to gift Moldovans three days off work next week is being seen as an attempt to blunt an opposition protest called for August 26.

August 27 and 31 are already public holidays, but a government initiative to declare the rest of the week off amounts to an invitation to Moldovans to head off on vacation, some political analysts say.

Moldova does not plan to negotiate a new gas contract with Russian energy giant Gazprom but will wait instead for construction of a link to the European energy network, Interfax quoted Moldovan Economy Minister Chiril Gaburici as telling a television talkshow on Monday.

Chisinau's current contract with Gazprom was signed in 2008 and runs until the end of 2019.

Russian troops in the Moldovan breakaway region of Transnistria began their third yearly joint military games on Wednesday with the local separatist troops, angering the government in Chisinau.

Moldovan pro-Russian President Igor Dodon left on Monday for a new pilgrimage to Orthodox monasteries on Mount Athos in Greece which are canonically subordinate to Moscow's Patriarchy, months ahead of the legislative elections scheduled for the beginning of 2019.

Moldova's parliament speaker Andrian Candu said on Tuesday evening that the country will soon start building the Ungheni-Chisinau pipeline section which will link Moldova to the European energy network via Romania "for sure".

The first section of the pipeline between Iasi in Romania and Ungheni in Moldova over the Prut river was inaugurated in August 2014.

Moldova is the most exposed country in Eastern Europe to Russian propaganda, owing to the dominance of Russian-language media, the Russian orientation of the main Church, poverty and lack of trust in the political class, according to a study called "Resistance to disinformation in Central and Eastern Europe".

Moldova authorities told BIRN that they are in a dialogue with Israel on moving their Israel embassy to Jerusalem from Tel-Aviv - but emphasized that such an important decision is still in the "analysis" stage.

The cancellation of the results of the mayoral election, won last month by Andrei Nastase, was the straw that broke the camel's back for many people in Moldova.

The initial ruling of a local court in Chisinau on June 20 was confirmed on June 25 by the Supreme Court of Justice.