Dances in Chisinau's downtown on Day of Moldova's joining Romania

Hundreds of young people danced in Chisinau's downtown on Friday afternoon in a rally celebrating Moldova's joining Romania on March 27, 1918, as patriotic songs were sounding on the Great National Assembly Square, Info-Prim Neo reports. The rally has been organized by members of a number of NGOs joined in an initiative group called “Romanian Spirit”, declaring itself apolitical. Incidents have also been reported. Participants have said the main organizer, Eugen Rusu, who had notified the city hall about the rally, had been held up by the police on the eve together with a Romanian citizen, George Simion, who was expelled from Moldova. Viorel, Eugen Rusu's brother, says he does not know where his brother is, as the police lifted him from near his house in Chisinau. The organizers say scores of Romanian and Moldovan young people having headed for Chisinau to join the manifestation, were denied access at the border. The Interior Ministry's spokesperson, Ala Meleca, has said the two young men were arrested for breaking the public order. She says Eugen Rusu is locked up in the Botanica district police commissariat, and George Simion was fined and set free. Earlier, the Moldovan Foreign Ministry warned the Romanian side about “possible electoral actions with provocative character involving Romanian citizens”. Romanian ambassador to Chisinau Filip Teodorescu was convened by the Moldovan Foreign Ministry on March 20, being told groups of Romanians citizens would come to Chisinau from March 26 to 28 to attend different election-related public activities. Romanian Foreign Minister Cristian Diaconescu told a news conference on Friday that he was concerned about the situation of the Romanians “systematically sent back” at the border with Moldova, announcing he expected explanations from his Moldovan counterpart