You're reading: Moldova: Suspect held in Merkel motorcade attack

Police in Moldova have detained a 23-year-old man suspected of lobbing an incendiary device toward the motorcade of visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The Interior Ministry said
Thursday the object flew over the car of Prime Minister Vlad Filat, who
was returning to Chisinau after a trip with Merkel to the country’s
famous Cricova wine cellars.

No one was injured in Wednesday’s
incident. Authorities have not specified what the device was, but said
it did not explode despite being on fire.

Merkel was in a bullet-proof limousine and security was tight during the trip.

Merkel, the first German chancellor to visit the country of 4.1 million, expressed support for reforms there.

Moldova’s government is increasingly aligning itself with the European Union, but Russia still retains influence in the ex-Soviet republic.