Moldova

President Maia Sandu's call for a major rally in support of Moldova's European Union membership aspirations on May 21 in Chisinau's central square got a boost on Monday as three small pro-European political parties said they would take part.

The move, however, has been criticised as discriminatory, favouring one religious community over myriad others that were snuffed out under Soviet rule and had their properties seized by the state.

Currently, Moldovan law does not provide for restitution of property claimed by legal entities, only private individuals.

Criminal Ties

Montage by BIRN

In 2015, North Macedonia took what was then both a revolutionary and controversial step in the region by legalizing the cultivation of cannabis for medicinal purposes. Since 2017, the industry truly took off in the country, encouraged by a government which saw it as an economic growth opportunity.

Moldova's Supreme Court of Justice faces paralysis after the resignation of 20 judges months before a vetting process was due to begin.

It was only when he arrived, in the dead of night in July 2021, that Terente knew he was in trouble.

He had handed over his passport to the bus driver, who was supposed to be paid by the man who had arranged Terente's travel. But when the man turned up, he claimed not to have any money on him and promised to retrieve the documents later. 

President Maia Sandu said on Monday evening after a meeting of Moldova's Supreme Security Council that a new Anti-Corruption Court will be operational within three months at most and will hear cases of crime within the judicial system as well as major corruption cases.

Cobasna is a geopolitical MacGuffin. The village in Transnistria, a breakaway territory of Moldova, hosts what is widely believed to be Eastern Europe's largest ammunition depot, a relic of the Cold War secured by some 1,500 Russian troops.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused Romania of occupying Bessarabia until 1940. She was angered by a Romanian Foreign Ministry announcement praising the replacement of the Moldovan language with Romanian in all Moldovan laws as a "restoration of scientific truth".

Deputies of the ruling party in Moldova have condemned what they term Russia's plans to regain control of the country after investigative media published a series of what appeared to be official Russian documents on how Moscow plans to maintain its influence in Chisinau and derail its relationship with the West.

A sign of that intention can be seen in the Kremlin's alleged intention to overthrow the current Moldovan government and incite unrest through protests in the country, an U.S. diplomat who recently visited Moldova told "The Daily Beast".