Action and Solidarity party

The National Liberal Party (PNL) hails the "remarkable victory" recorded by the leader of the Dignity and Truth Platform Party (PPDA), Andrei Nastase, representative of the pro-European forces in the Republic of Moldova, in the second round of elections for the mayoralty of Chisinau, according to a press release issued on Sunday evening for AGERPRES and signed by the PNL chair Ludovic Orban.

The pro-Russian Socialist candidate Ion Ceban won the first round of elections for City Hall in Chisinau with 40.97 per cent of the vote, according to official data made public on Sunday night by the Central Electoral Commission - but did not get enough support to take the mayoralty outright.

An explosion caused by a grenade going off in a shop in Moldova's capital Chisinau on Tuesday killed two people and wounded three.

Local police investigating the case said that the explosion, which happened at around noon, was an "accident".

Many politicians in Moldova have attracted thousands of "likes" on their Facebook pages, hinting at their great popularity among the masses.

However, a media probe has uncovered that a suspicious number of these "likes" come from far-away countries with which Moldova has little or no connection.

A survey published this week by the Institute of Marketing and Surveys suggests that Moldovan citizens are again more in favour of their country joining the EU than the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union, a shift in opinion from the start of this year.

Voting is underway in Moldova where the two candidates have differing views on the country's future.

For the first time since 1997, the head of state will be elected by voters themselves and not by Parliament.