MOLDOVA’S MAJORITY PARTY RESISTS PRESIDENTIAL POWER BID.

At an extraordinary congress in Chisinau on September 2, the Agrarian Democratic Party–which dominates parliament and government–attacked President Mircea Snegur’s bid to establish personal rule as undemocratic and potentially destabilizing. The congress was marked by speeches and resolutions condemning the presidential camp for resorting to the Romanian national idea. It was said that this idea risked dividing Moldovans against each other, splitting the country’s multiethnic society, and blocking any settlement of the Transdniester conflict. In contrast to the presidential party’s monoethnic inaugural congress last week, the Agrarian congress was a multiethnic affair. The party defended its legislative record on political and economic reforms. It also claimed that the the positive findings of international organizations refute Snegur’s characterizations of the Agrarians as "bolshevik." The congress came out against revising the 1994 constitution and against possible–and anticipated–presidential attempts at dissolving the parliament, which was also elected in 1994

Estonia Seeks Greater Clarity on NATO Enlargement.