Moldova protesters want energy subsidies, president to quit

By AUREL OBREJA and STEPHEN McGRATH
Associated Press

CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — Several thousand protesters have rallied in Moldova’s capital to demand that the country’s new pro-Western government fully cover citizens’ winter heating bills amid a cost-of-living crisis and skyrocketing inflation. The protest was organized by a recently formed group called Movement for the People and supported by members of Moldova’s Russia-friendly Shor Party, which holds six seats in the 101-seat legislature. Some of the demonstrators who converged on Chisinau called for the resignation of the country’s president on Sunday. President Maia Sandu on Feb. 13 outlined what she claimed was an alleged plot by Moscow to overthrow the government in order to derail the nation from its course to one day join the European Union.