Moldova

The Central Electoral Commission in Moldova, CEC, has sanctioned the Ilan Shor Party, depriving it of the right to receive allocations from the state budget for the first six months of this year.

As Moldova ponders a new national defence strategy, its military neutrality is being called into question in the light of Russia's war in Ukraine.

Moldova said three cruise missiles fired by Russia at Ukraine entered Moldovan airspace today, Reuters reported.

Chisinau added that they had summoned the Russian ambassador to the country to get explanations.

Moldova has set itself some ambitious targets as it races to meet the conditions set by the EU for the start of negotiation talks. But not everyone is impressed.

The Moldovan authorities extended the environmental certificate for a metal plant in the breakaway region of Transnistria after pressure from the separatist regime and its Russian backers.

The new director of Moldova's SIS has vowed to reform the secret service and protect Moldova's European path. He faces challenges in the shape of a KGB legacy and war in neighbouring Ukraine.

Living standards in Moldova face plummeting further on the back of skyrocketing inflation.

The Gagauz are a small Christian Turkic minority that lives primarily in southern Moldova and Ukraine's Odessa region. According to the 1989 Soviet census, over 153,000 Gagauz lived in Moldova, concentrated mainly in the cities of Comrat and Ceadîr-Lunga, and with a considerable minority in the nearby regions of Vulcănești, Taraclia, and Basarabeasca.

Moldova's pro-Western President Maia Sandu said on Wednesday that she does not understand why Russia imposed a new embargo on Moldovan fruits on August 15, as her country's goods meet EU quality standards that are higher than Russian standards.

Moldova will not be able to honour its payment obligations for August for gas from Gazprom, the director of Moldovagaz, Vadim Ceban, told BIRN on Thursday.

"We hope we can get an extension of the payment term. The deadline is August 20, but I think we can also pay on August 22," Ceban told BIRN.