Moldovan MPs mark Flag Day today

Chisinau, 27 April /MOLDPRES/- Lawmakers today had a solemn meeting to mark the 25th anniversary of the official designation of tricolor as State Flag.

More officials came to deliver speeches, after they had honored the flag and Moldova's state anthem. President Nicolae Timofti said that "there have been times when the state flag was treated with hostility, but nobody managed to get it off the mast". "Integration into the EU is carried out under the same flag, in the name of patriots who have waved it in the years of our national coming into being. I am sure that, one day, under the same flag, we will mark the event of our return to the European space," Timofti said.

Attending the event, the first president of Moldova, Mircea Snegur, said that the flag and state coat of arms had been adopted in not at all friendly conditions. "One of the goals of the movement of revival and national liberation, in the second half of 1980s, was the return to our authentic symbol: tricolor flag and coat of arms. The issue was not a fad, but a dominant initiative of the people to restore memory and traditions", Snegur said.

Parliament Speaker Andrian Candu pointed out that the state flag was a testimony of what had been achieved so far and a defining symbol of our national identity. "We have a moral duty for our children that, in predictable future, the flag should be displayed in Brussels, in the heart of Europe. The flag's colours must unite everyone living on this land," Candu noted.

On the occasion of the State Flag Day, an exhibition of flags was inaugurated in the hall of parliament today morning. The Presidential Orchestra and Chisinau Youth Orchestra will give concerts in the evening. At the same time, the parliament's building will be illuminated in the colours of the state flag.

(Reporter C. Russu, editor M. Jantovan)