Tensions grow over Moldova clashes

Article reports that police and opposition protesters battled in Moldova on the 8 April 2009 in a clash that provoked heated exchanges between the tiny former Soviet republic and neighbouring Romania and prompted concern in Russia, the European Union and the US.

The violence in Chisinau, the capital, was triggered by the parliamentary elections on the 5 April 2009 and followed even greater turmoil on the 7 April 2009 when demonstrators stormed parliament and the presidential palace.

Spiegel Online International, 8.4.09: Riot Police Crack Down on Anti-Communist Protests http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,618087,00.html

Deutsche Welle, 9.4.09: Moldova's Communists narrowly lose parliamentary majority http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4164985,00.html

BBC News, 8.4.09: Romania blamed over Moldova riots http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7989360.stm

Deutsche Welle, 8.4.09: Unrest in Moldova brings complicated state into international focus http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4162949,00.html

ESO: Background information: EU dreams in Communist Moldova http://www.europeansources.info/record/eu-dreams-in-communist-moldova/

EurActiv, 9.4.09: Tension grows between Moldova and Romania http://www.euractiv.com/east-mediterranean/tension-grows-moldova-romania-news-221678

Russia Today, 9.4.09: Moldova: silence before the storm? http://rt.com/news/

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