Igor Dodon

Moldova's pro-Russian President, Igor Dodon, has called on all members of the huge Moldovan diaspora in Russia to vote in the next Moldovan elections on February 24, 2019, whether or not they have issues with their Russian work and residence permits.

He has promised that Moscow will turn a blind eye to such problems if they come home to vote.

Moldova has approved amending a bilateral agreement with Turkey, which will eliminate the need for transport authorizations for exports by both countries.

The new rules will apply to bilateral trade between Turkey and Moldova, and for transiting goods in both countries.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday gave inflated figures for Moldova-Russia trade during a meeting at the Kremlin with his Moldovan counterpart Igor Dodon.

The Russian leader said that exports of Moldovan goods to the Russian market grew by 14 per cent in the first half of this year, although statistical data shows that they actually decreased by 8 per cent.

Russian Patriarch Kirill presented President Igor Dodon with a Russian religious order on Wednesday on the first day of the Moldovan leader's official visit to Moscow.

"His Holiness gave me the Order of St. Sergius de Radonezh, in the second degree, for the active support shown for the public initiatives of the Orthodox Church in Moldova," Dodon wrote on Facebook.

Moldovan Prime Minister Pavel Filip confirmed on Wednesday night that he received two water cannon trucks used to disperse protesters during demonstrations as a "gift" from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on his visit to Moldova last week.

Moldova's pro-Russian President Igor Dodon said on Tuesday that Russian Patriarch Kirill will visit Moldova from October 27 to 28 - a shorter visit than the four-day trip that was initially announced.

The Russian Patriarch has cancelled his planned sermon in Tiraspol in the breakaway region of Transnistria.

The Moldova director of the rights organisation Amnesty International, AIM, Cristina Pereteatcu, has told BIRN that they believe 48 Turkish residents in Moldova are under surveillance by the Moldovan authorities - and could share the same fate as seven Turkish teachers recently expelled from the country. 

Igor Dodon announced on Tuesday that his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan will make an official visit to Chisinau from October 17-18 for the opening of the presidential palace in Chisinau, which was renovated with funds from Ankara.

Moldovan Prime Minister Pavel Filip on Thursday said that compulsory military service will be gradually abolished by 2021, as Moldova makes the switch to a purely professional army.

Senator Christopher Coons on Tuesday tabled a draft resolution at the US Senate calling on Russia to fulfil the commitments it made at an OSCE summit in 1999 and pull its soldiers out of Moldova's breakaway region of Transnistria.

The resolution urges Russia to "withdraw its military forces and munitions from within the internationally recognised territory of Moldova".