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Moldova borders on alert: Troops to 'take all necessary actions' to keep the peace

Moldova has a 750-mile border with Ukraine. Top Moldovan leaders announced the border alert after fighting between government troops and a pro-Russia militia in eastern Ukraine killed combatants on both sides.

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Vitalie Plotnic/AP/File
Moldovan youngsters hold digitally modified portraits of Russian President Vladimir Putin before burning them during a protest in Chisinau, Moldova, April 6. Protesters condemned Russia's annexation of Crimea, displaying banners that read 'This is not Crimea.'
  • By Corneliu Rusnac Associated Press

| CHISINAU, Moldova

Moldova's government placed the landlocked country's borders on alert Monday, citing concerns about a deteriorating security situation and escalating violence in neighboring Ukraine.

Top Moldovan leaders announced the move in a joint statement after Ukrainian forces deployed an elite unit to the port of Odessa and fighting between government troops and a pro-Russia militia in eastern Ukraine killed combatants on both sides.

President Nicolae Timofti, Prime Minister Iurie Leanca and Parliament speaker Igor Coreman said in the statement that security forces had been ordered "to take all necessary actions to ensure public order inside the country."

They made no reference to any specific threat, but "expressed their concern about the deterioration of the security climate in the region following the escalation of violence in Ukraine," it said, affirming Moldova's support for Ukraine's territorial integrity.

Moldova has 1,500 Russian troops stationed in a separatist republic of Trans-Dniester, which recently asked to be united with Russia.

Russia has said it respects Moldova's territorial integrity in the past but leaders are concerned about unrest in Trans-Dniester. Moldova has a 750-mile border with Ukraine, which is mostly controlled by pro-Russian separatists.

Earlier Monday, British Foreign Minister William Hague held talks with Moldovan authorities, and said the former Soviet republic should move forward with talks toward closer ties to the European Union without being seen as a threat to Russia.

Hague says Britain is "strongly opposed to any external pressure or any violations of sovereignty and territorial integrity."

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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