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Moldova gets new pro-European Prime Minister

US says backs Moldova sovereignty after rebels appeal to Moscow
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Moldova’s pro-European President Maia Sandu on Friday nominated a new prime minister after the current one resigned, triggering the government’s collapse in the struggling eastern European country.

Sandu’s choice — her pro-European security advisor Dorin Recean — is likely to be approved without hurdles in the country of 2.6 million people nestled between Romania and Ukraine.

“The new government will be formed promptly and will lead the country on the path of reconstruction,” Sandu said in a televised statement.

“We need unity to get through this tough time we are going through.”

The impoverished country, which was granted EU candidate status in June 2022, faces multiple crisis, including energy blackouts since Moscow invaded neighbouring Ukraine.

On Thursday, Moldova’s intelligence service said Russia was acting to destabilise the ex-Soviet country, following comments by Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky that Kyiv had uncovered a plan by Moscow.

Natalia Gavrilita, 45, who is from the same pro-European PAS party as Sandu, announced her resignation as premier earlier Friday.

She didn’t elaborate on her reasons for resigning, only citing a lack of “support and trust at home”.

Sandu thanked Gavrilita for her “sacrifice and huge efforts in leading the country through so many crises”.

The PAS party has 63 seats in a 101-seat parliament so voting through Recean, a 48-year-old former interior minister, as new prime minister is seen as a smooth process.

The country suffered energy blackouts after Ukraine stopped exporting electricity because of Russian airstrikes on critical infrastructure, while Russia’s giant Gazprom cut gas deliveries by half last year, according to Chisinau.

At the same time, Moldova’s intelligence agencies have accused Russia of attempting to destabilise the country and its pro-European trajectory, including through paid anti-government protests.

Russia still maintains troops in Moldova’s breakaway region of Transnistria.

The war in neighbouring Ukraine has also caused security concerns as debris from Russian missiles has landed on its territory.

In the latest incident, Moldova on Friday said it would summon Russia’s ambassador after Chisinau claimed that a Russian missile crossed the airspace of the ex-Soviet republic.

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AFP

Agence France-Presse (AFP) is a French international news agency headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 1835 as Havas, it is the world's oldest news agency.







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