Several protesters have been detained after tens of thousands of protesters in Moldova took to the streets of the capital to demand the dissolution of the new government following corruption scandals.
Demonstrators assembled on Great National Assembly Square in downtown Chiinu on Sunday to call for the resignation of the president, Nicolae Timofti, early elections and punishment for those responsible for widespread embezzlement. Organisers claimed 100,000 people had attended the demonstrations, while police put the number at 35,000-40,000. The protest is the largest such action in the former Soviet republic, which has been one of the poorest countries in Europe since its independence movement in the early 1990s.
Tents were set up on the square, with activists tweeting that they intended to stay there until the government was dissolved .
Some Russian and Ukrainian media outlets called the protests a “Maidan”, referring to the colloquial name of the months-long demonstrations in Kiev that ousted president Viktor Yanukovych in 2014 and led a standoff between Russia and the west. Like Ukraine, Moldova has ties to both the EU and Russia, where many of its citizens work, but has moved toward European integration in recent years.
Moldova’s parliament narrowly elected Valeriu Strelet as prime minister in July amid increasing political turbulence. Thousands protested in May after $1billion - equivalent to one eighth of the country’s budget - disappeared from three banks through mysterious loans . The International Monetary Fund and World Bank stopped lending to Moldova after the incident, and the return of the $1billion remains a key demand of the current protests.