Moscow-Friendly Armenian Blogger Barred From Entering Moldova

Armenian blogger Mika Badalian, who is close to fugitive pro-Russian Moldovan businessman Ilan Shor, was barred from entering Moldova last week, RFE/RL has learned. Badalian, who was not allowed to exit a plane from Yerevan, said he wanted to launch an event of the Russian-based Evrazia foundation meant to inform Moldovan citizens about the "disadvantages of joining the EU" and the benefits of Eurasian cooperation. Evrazia was registered in Moscow in April by Nelli Parutenko, a former accountant of the now-disbanded Shor party. Shor was implicated in a $1 billion bank fraud and other illicit schemes and has organized antigovernment protests in Chisinau. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Moldovan Service, click here.