pro-Russian

Moldova risks losing 30 million euros of 100 million euros in macro-financial aid from the European Union if its parliament fails to pass a law on the NGO sector seen as a condition for the release of the money.

Moldova on Monday marked 28 years since the outbreak of the Dniester War, when regular army, police and volunteers battled pro-Russian separatists in the breakaway region of Transnistria, on the left bank of the Dniester River.

Moldova's pro-Russian president and government want to turn Europe's poorest country into a building site before the presidential elections in late 2020. And they want Russia, Turkey and China to fund it.

The State Department announced on Monday that it will not allow Vladimir Plahotniuc or his closest relatives to enter the US because of his involvement in "corrupt acts that undermined the rule of law and severely compromised the independence of democratic institutions in Moldova".

Russia has refused to increase export quotas for Moldovan goods for 2019, setting a quota of 15,000 export permits for Moldovan producers - 3,000 less than in 2018.

The Moldovan Economy and Infrastructure Ministry on Wednesday said Russia wanted Moldova first to increase the number of permits for Russian transport operators.

Human rights activists from the "Occupy Guguta" movement in Moldova unveiled a banner on Tuesday night at the national football match between Moldova and Turkey, with a critical message for the authoritarian Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

In Victor Gaiciuc, Moldova's pro-Russian president has another friend and ally in a position of power.

Moldova on Monday selected the Secretary-General of the Presidency, Ruslan Flocea, as the new head of the National Anti-corruption Centre, CNA.

The Commission for the Judiciary, Appointments and Immunities of the Moldovan Parliament held a contest for the post of CNA head after having extended the deadline for the submission of files on candidates by one week.

The General Prosecutor's Office in Moldova announced on Tuesday that it has initiated a criminal investigation into the country's pro-Russian President Igor Dodon over allegations that his Socialist Party has received up to $1 million a month from Moscow.

Moldova faces a fresh political crisis after the Constitutional Court declared the new government, led by the pro-European leader Maia Sandu and sworn in on Saturday, illegal.

The Court, which is widely seen as heavily influenced by the Democratic Party, also ordered the dissolution of parliament, which means new legislative elections must be held.