Transdniestrian Parliament's Speaker Steps Down

TIRASPOL -- The speaker of the parliament in Moldova's breakaway Transdniester region, Yevgeny Shevchuk, has resigned, RFE/RL's Moldovan Service reports.

He cited "deep disagreements" with Transdniestrian leader Igor Smirnov.

Shevchuk has served as parliament speaker since 2005, and managed to push through a number of constitutional changes during that period.

While known as a reformer within the leadership of the breakaway region, Shevchuk has opposed the idea of reunification with Moldova.

Transdniester has had de facto independence since a brief but bloody war in the early 1990s.