2015–16 protests in Moldova

The Chisinau Court of Appeal ruled in a decision issued on Monday evening that fugitive Moldovan oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc must stand trial in his absence in the 'Grand Theft' case of $1 billion from the Moldovan banking system between 2012 and 2014.

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".

Anti-graft prosecutors in Moldova on Wednesday interrogated Vladimir Novosadiuc, director of Sputnik Moldova, a news agency affiliated to the Kremlin, over a notorious money-laundering scheme.

Moldovan law-enforcement authorities have issued a national arrest warrant for Ilan Shor, the alleged mastermind behind the "grand theft" of one billion US dollars from the Moldovan banking system in 2014, who is believed to have left the country in mid-July.

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.

As the international community appealed for calm in Moldova, the new Prime Minister, Maia Sandu, defiantly summoned her cabinet to meet on Monday in parliament - despite a blockade by police still obeying the former government led by Pavel Filip.

The European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs, AFET, on Tuesday adopted a highly critical resolution on Moldova, saying it has been "captured by oligarchic interests" and adding that the EU should no longer aid the country at least until after next year's elections.

The Moldovan authorities have authorised simultaneous protests in the Great National Assembly Square in Chisinau on Saturday for pro-Romanian Unionists and for pro-Russian Socialists members and sympathizers.

Moldova's Pro-Russian President Igor Dodon on Wednesday said that he will convene the country's Security Council after several localities passed statements backing Moldova's reunion with Romania.

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.