Vlad Plahotniuc

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".

The leader of the Democratic Party, Vlad Plahotniuc - who left Moldova for an undisclosed destination soon after the Democratic Party-led government under Pavel Filip resigned last Friday - has said he will return as soon as he and his family feel secure.

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.

Moldova courts on Tuesday jailed a former deputy, Iurie Bolboceanu, for 14 years, for "betraying his homeland" by spying for Russia.

The Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime and Special Investigations, PCCOCS, said the Russian Military Intelligence Agency, the GRU, recruited him from October 5, 2016, to March 17, 2017.

Two US Congressmen, David Price and Pete Olson, have signed a resolution that calls on the US to back Moldova's European future, and urges Russia to pull out troops from the breakaway Transnistria region.

Russia's State Duma on Thursday presented a draft declaration, accusing Moldova of "discrimination" against Russia media, after Moldova's interim president Andrian Candu approved the government-backed "anti-propaganda" law designed to curb the Russian media presence in the former Soviet republic.

Moldova's General Prosecutor's Office told news website deschide.md on Monday evening that German Gorbuntsov is being investigated in at least three criminal cases by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office.

After returning to Moldova on November 30 following a six-year absence, Gorbutsov was first questioned by prosecutors about an attempt to assassinate him in London in March 2012.