Moldova acting president calls snap election

Moldova's acting president Pavel Filip on Sunday dissolved parliament and called snap elections, as a political crisis rocks the ex-Soviet country.

Filip signed a decree dissolving parliament and calling snap elections for September 6 after the Constitutional Court earlier Sunday suspended pro-Russia president Igor Dodon and named Filip, who is the acting prime minister, as acting president.

Filip told a briefing that Dodon had refused to sign a decree dissolving parliament after the Constitutional Court on Friday judged that the assembly should be dissolved and new elections held.

The Constitutional Court then on Sunday morning suspended Dodon at the request of the parliament's second biggest force, the Democratic party.

Moldova's parliament on Saturday had approved a new government combining pro-Russia and pro-European forces in a bid to end a political crisis sparked by February elections.

No party won a clear majority in the chaotic polls, throwing the country nestled between Ukraine and Romania into political uncertainty.