Part
of Romania during the interwar period, Moldova was incorporated into the Soviet
Union at the close of World War II. Although the country has been independent
from the USSR since 1991, Russian forces have remained on Moldovan territory
east of the Dniester River supporting a Transnistrian separatist region with a
Slavic majority population of mostly Ukrainians and Russians. One of the
poorest nations in Europe, Moldova became the first former Soviet state to
elect a Communist, Vladimir VORONIN, as its president in 2001. VORONIN served
as Moldova's president until he resigned in September 2009, following the
opposition's gain of a narrow majority in July parliamentary elections and the
Communist Party's (PCRM) subsequent inability to attract the three-fifths of
parliamentary votes required to elect a president. Four Moldovan opposition
parties formed a new coalition, the Alliance for European Integration (AEI),
which has acted as Moldova's governing coalition since. Moldova experienced
significant political uncertainty between 2009 and early 2012, holding three
general elections and numerous presidential ballots in parliament, all of which
failed to secure a president. Following November 2010 parliamentary elections,
a reconstituted AEI-coalition consisting of three of the four original AEI
parties formed a government, and in March 2012 were finally able to elect an
independent as president.
(Source: The World Factbook 2009. Washington, DC: Central
Intelligence Agency, 2009)
For more information about Moldova:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html
