Foreign Digest: Moldova, Italy, Greece, Papua New Guinea and Turkey

Moldova: Moldova announced last week that it is leaving the Commonwealth of Independent States, the organization set up by the Russian Federation of former Soviet Republics because of Russian aggression against the former Soviet Republic of Ukraine. On Sunday, there was a large pro-European demonstration. The people of former Communist States, including Soviet Satellites and former Soviet Republics, desire to be close to Europe and the West than to Russia, especially now that Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin, an ex-Soviet intelligence officer, seeks to restore the Soviet Union. Italy: There was a pro-life demonstration in Rome last week, led by Catholic clergy and Religious. Thousands attended. Italy has liberal abortion laws, but the practice is relatively rare there, as most medical personal object to killing unborn human beings. There has been a movement for assisted suicide and even euthanasia for which the Italian pro-life movement must also offer the choice of life as an alternative. Greece: The ruling conservative party easily won the most votes and seats in the Greek Parliamentary elections last Sunday. Because the center-right party was close to winning a majority, however, it opted not to seek a coalition with other parties, but a second election in a few weeks to try to win a majority so it can govern on its own. Greece is an ally of the United States as a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Papua New Guinea: Papua New Guinea and the United States signed a defense pact that grants American access to air bases and ports, in yet another measure to counter an increasingly assertive Communist China. Turkey: The authoritarian Islamist Turkish President will win the presidential runoff today because he has persecuted opponents, controls state media and gave out government largesse before the vote. Having served as either Prime Minister or President for two decades, he will guarantee himself another decade in power as he takes Turkey further and further away from its original principles of a secular state with liberty and representative government, guaranteed by the army. The Sultan had been forced into the runoff with a center-left candidate backed by Kurds by failing to win a majority two weeks ago. Turkey is a NATO ally of the U.S., but an unreliable one as it has warmed to Russia and opposes Sweden’s bid to join the defensive alliance in the face of Russian aggression against Ukraine.