Moldovan gov’t quits after losing vote

Moldovan Prime Minister Vlad Filat’s pro-Europe government resigned on Friday after being defeated in a confidence vote, raising the prospect of early elections unless a new government is approved within six weeks. Filat’s government effectively collapsed on March 5 when it lost a confidence vote in which it was deserted by two coalition parties in the ruling Alliance for European Integration.

The Alliance, which has run the former Soviet republic since it pushed the communists into opposition in 2009, has been split for months by internal feuding and personal rivalries. Political leaders say Moldova’s course toward European integration could be threatened if the three main Alliance partners do not settle their differences and end the crisis. The signing of landmark association and free trade agreements with the European Union at the end of the year could, particularly, be in jeopardy, they say.