CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) 鈥 Thousands of anti-government protesters returned to the streets of Moldova鈥檚 capital Sunday to express their dismay over alleged government failings amid an acute winter energy crisis and skyrocketing inflation.
The protesters converged in the capital, Chisinau, and chanted slogans as they marched toward the Constitutional Court. They called for an early election and the resignation of Moldova鈥檚 pro-Western President Maia Sandu.
Moldova, a former Soviet republic sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine with 2.6 million people, has taken a distinctly Western-oriented path over the last year. But in the past two months, a series of protests initiated by the populist Shor Party have rocked the country.
The Shor Party鈥檚 leader, Ilan Shor, is a Moldovan oligarch currently in exile in Israel. He is implicated in a $1 billion bank theft and was recently named on a U.S. State Department sanctions list as working for Russian interests.
The U.S. says Shor is working with 鈥渃orrupt oligarchs and Moscow-based entities to create political unrest in Moldova鈥 and to undermine the country鈥檚 push to join the European Union. In June, Moldova was granted E.U. candidate status along with war-torn Ukraine.
On Thursday, Moldova鈥檚 government filed a request to the country鈥檚 Constitutional Court to declare the Shor Party illegal. Moldova's anti-corruption prosecutors鈥 office is also investigating the financing of the protests, which prosecutors say involves at least some Russian money.
The protests have hit Molodva鈥檚 government as it grapples with a serious winter energy crisis and rapidly rising inflation. Russia, whom Moldova relies on entirely for its natural gas, recently halved its supply to Moldova, Europe鈥檚 poorest nation.
President Sandu says Moscow鈥檚 decision to cut gas supplies was 鈥減olitical blackmail,鈥 and has accused pro-Russia political forces in Moldova of 鈥渃ynically exploiting people鈥檚 hardships and the discontent ... (to) generate chaos and turn us back from our European path.鈥
On Thursday, E.U. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen , where she pledged 250 million euros from the bloc to help the country tackle the energy crisis and support its most vulnerable people.
鈥淢oldova is part of our European family,鈥 she said. 鈥淎nd family must stick together when the times are getting tough.鈥
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McGrath reported from Sighisoara, Romania.
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