Mayors of Chişinău

Thousands of farmers from the southern part on Moldova arrived in Chisinau to protest on Friday in front of the government building, demanding state aid after a severe drought decimated their crops this year.

Pro-Russian forces scored an important victory on Sunday when they won the first round of voting for a new mayor in Chisinau - long seen as a bastion of pro-Western politics.

The Socialist candidate, Ion Ceban, won 40.30 per cent of the vote, well ahead of Andrei Nastase, candidate of the pro-EU ACUM bloc, who took 31.01 per cent.

The leader of the Dignity and Truth Platform Party, PPDA, Andrei Nastase, intends to run again in the new mayoral race for the capital, Chisinau which should take place this summer. Parliament in Moldova has not yet set an exact date for the election.

Mayors of Iasi (Romania), Chisinau (Moldova) and Cernauti (Ukraine) on Saturday signed in Iasi, in the presence of Prime Minister Victor Ponta, a cooperation agreement on education, culture and public administration.

Photo (c) Alex TUDOR / AGERPRES ARCHIVE