Socialist Party

The US embassy in Moldova reacted angrily on Thursday after the Moldovan parliament cancelled the sale of the former Republican Stadium in Chisinau intended for a new US embassy.

Albania's parliament voted on Thursday to set up an investigative committee to collect information on other investigations conducted by local and international bodies into alleged crimes committed by the Kosovo Liberation Army in Albania in the war in Kosovo two decades ago.

The parliament will then present a resolution based on the findings.

Thousands of Moldovans rallied on Thursday in Chisinau in front of parliament to protest against the move by the Socialist Party and the outgoing President, Igor Dodon, to prevent the incoming president from running the Security and Information Service, SIS.

Albania PM Edi Rama voting in the village of Surel near Tirana in the 2017 elections. Photo: LSA

President Ilir Meta, who has called the changes unconstitutional, asked the Venice Commission for an opinion on the matter last October.

The fugitive Moldovan tycoon Vladimir Plahotniuc, who is now in the US, has filed a lawsuit against the US State Department and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo after being banned from the US on January 13 "due to his involvement in significant corruption".

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will start a visit to Serbia on June 18, according to his Serbian counterpart, Ivica Dacic. The visit appeared timed to coincide with the end of the election campaign in the strongly pro-Russian country.

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.

Socialist Party MP Damian Gjiknuri speaking to journalists after failure to agree on electoral reform on May 31 2020. Photo: LSA

After a short visit to serious crime prosecutors, Rizzatto left Albania the same day, mission accomplished:

Within the year, money-laundering charges against Vladi and four others had been dropped, as one of Albania's most sensational criminal cases of recent years unraveled.

Opposition Democratic Party leader Lulzim Basha speaking to journalists at the National Theatre on May 14, 2020. Photo: LSA

The municipal council adopted the decision to go ahead with demolition in an online meeting on Thursday, a councillor for the ruling Socialist Party told BIRN on condition of anonymity. A municipal spokesperson did not answer BIRN's request for clarification.