Free Republic

Moldova's electoral commission barred a pro-Russian party from participating in this weekend's parliamentary elections on Friday, a vote beleaguered by widespread claims of Russian interference. The outcome of Sunday's high-stakes vote could determine whether Moldova, a former Soviet republic and a candidate for EU membership, will continue on a path towards the West or be brought back into Moscow's orbit. The Heart of Moldova party is one of four parties in the Russia-friendly Patriotic Electoral Bloc (BEP), which is viewed as one of the main opponents of the ruling pro-Western Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS). The Central Electoral Commission's...

Russia-appointed officials in occupied Crimea have announced a regional emergency as oil was detected on the shores of Sevastopol, the peninsula's largest city. Fuel oil spilled out of two stricken tankers nearly three weeks ago in the Kerch Strait, about 250 kilometres from Sevastopol on the southwest of the peninsula. "Today a regional emergency regime has been declared in Sevastopol," regional Governor Mikhail Razvozhaev wrote on Telegram. Oil was found on four beaches in the region and was "promptly eliminated" by local authorities working together with volunteers, Razvozhaev said. "Let me emphasise: there is no mass pollution of the coastline...