Inaugural Speech delivered by Mr. Igor Dodon President of the Republic of Moldova

Dear citizens of the Republic of Moldova!

Honoured guests from abroad!

Your Excellences, Dear Ambassadors!

Dear friends,

Ladies and gentlemen,

I am honoured and I express my warmest gratitude to you for joining me and the Moldovan people today, when I am pronouncing my oath, holding my hand on the Constitution and thinking of our compatriots. I know very well what are the hopes and expectations of our citizens from their President. I was together with the people who were struggling for years to regain the right to elect their own leader of the country. People claimed the right to elect the head of state directly  for obvious reasons - the president must represent them, be responsible to them, being politically independent and thoughtful in relation with disadvantaged ones. The mandate, obtained through direct vote of citizens, confers an increased and undeniable legitimacy to the country’s President;  therefore, any attempt against the presidential institution’s competences will mean an unacceptable disregard the people’s vote. I want everyone to be aware of this fact.

I cordially thank Moldovan citizens for the confidence offered by voting for me in those elections. I know that your vote meant, first of all, hope and trust that together we can change our lives for better. I assure you, dear compatriots, that I will remain faithful to my commitments, undertaken in front of you. I will strive day and night in order to bring back to Moldova’s people confidence in the day of tomorrow!

I cordially thank my family. You have always been and will remain my strongest support!

Trough civic consolidation towards prosperity of the Motherland

I am addressing to my compatriots, who had other electoral options and shared political views different from my own and PSRM’s ones. I am sure that you also voted for a better future of our motherland – Republic of Moldova! As I declared in the election campaign, I will be a President for all the citizens of this state, who wish Moldova to become a prosperous, free and independent country.

Today, I want to especially address to the hundreds of thousands of Moldovan, who are forced to work far away from home. My dear compatriots, I'm not able to even describe to what extent you suffer away from home, families and beloved children. It is painful and unfair that the state, whose budget is largely filled in with your sweat when working hard abroad, was not able to provide even the elementary to many of you - the right to vote. It is a shame, it is inadmissible. Resolving the problems of our citizens, which live away from home, will be a priority for me and an adviser, appointed specifically to address the issues of Diaspora, will be acting within President’s Office.

Certainly, we may have differing views on development models or country programs. This seems natural to me. Diversity of ideas, competitions are important for the development and for ensuring fundamental freedoms. At the same time, I am convinced of the fact that the majority of you share the same hopes and goals - to modernize Moldova, to ensure a decent life for all - children, young and old people, to make it more comfortable for those who are at home and more attractive for those who are abroad. I know it is possible. Over our history, there were more difficult periods in different centuries. But every time we were together, when we acted jointly as a nation, we succeeded. I invite you to succeed this time, too.

State in service of citizens

Ladies and gentleman, representatives of the political class of the Republic of Moldova, public servants and employees of the state structures,

On November 13 2016 Moldovan citizens, through their votes, passed a clear message to us, decisive and irrevocable - people are the sovereigns of this country, and state institutions starting with Parliament and Government must be in service of the citizens. I urge and also warn you - please treat people’s message very seriously! Do not forget who are the real sovereigns of the country and to whom you pronounced the oath. In case that the political class ignores people’s wish to take out the state institutions from the influence of interest groups, I will act on behalf of the people, I will fight alongside the people, and I will bring back the state in service of citizens.

Moldova has a future!

My basic message in the election campaign was "Moldova has a future"! I believe in it. Statehood, sovereignty are not and cannot be subjects of discussions. I, same way as the absolute majority of our citizens, want to live, raise my children and create within an independent country, within a sovereign state named Republic of Moldova. This natural wish is anchored in the centuries-old history of our nation. We have a sacred duty to honour the will left by Ștefan cel Mare and other famous rulers of medieval Moldova, this is a sign of respect and eternal memory for the brave sons of our nation, who have dedicated their lives to the independence of this state. Moldovan statehood has a history for centuries. Over the history, multiple attacks took place against the sovereignty of our nation, but we kept the memory of living together in our own state – independent, Moldovan. This collective memory enabled us to lay the foundation of the Republic of Moldova, which today is the embodiment of the statehood and of Moldovan people.

Moldova is our home!

This country, this state is our home, which each of us must care for and protect. I urge you to follow the example of other great nations, I urge you, dear compatriots, to ask yourselves what each of us can do for our home, for the Republic of Moldova. I am sure that we can do a lot, and first of all, to be patriots of the country. I urge the country's intellectuals, people representing the culture, academia and especially our esteemed professors, whom we entrust the education of future generations of our nation, to work towards protecting and nurturing the century-old identity of Moldovan people. It is our sacred debt to our ancestors and descendants - to love and protect the country, to be proud of our national identity, to respect the opinion of the majority of the country’s population, which for centuries self-determined as Moldovan!

State security - primordial priority!

I want to assure the citizens of the Republic of Moldova about the fact that national security will be one of my basic concerns as President. I refer to all components:  political, economic and social. Sovereignty, neutrality and territorial integrity will be permanently on the agenda of the President. Also, referring to other security components, throughout main priorities will be the steady improvement of life quality for every citizen, creating possibilities for growth and achievements, and development of human potential.

I will be preoccupied in a priority manner with country's business environment issues. Overall, the businesses sphere expects only one thing from the government - to be treated as a partner, while the promoted economic policies are adequate and predictable. I am sure it is achievable. I would like to inform you that soon the Economic Council will be created under the aegis of the President Office of the Republic of Moldova.

Zero tolerance to corruption

I will give a special importance to the situation in the judiciary and law enforcement institutions of the country, which citizens have pertinent and very serious questions to. The looted banking system and billions of foreign exchange reserves stolen, looted public property and chopped budgetary resources - are eloquent evidence of weakness and complicity of law and justice structures. The rush with which the refund of stolen billions was placed on citizens’ shoulders is not only an act of national humiliation, but also a nuisance with all severity. I will never get over with what happened in the banking system of the country and I will concentrate all my energy in order to elucidate the facts and to refund the looted public property to the people.

I would like to address to members of the Government and to officials of different ranks in central and local government structures –you came to your positions to use your knowledge and professional skills in order to serve the people of the Republic of Moldova, not your personal or party interests. I expect from the competent bodies an unprecedented mobilization for a fight against grand corruption in the state, scourge that shows an existential threat to the state the Republic of Moldova. I assure you that I have enough political will to intensify the fight against corruption. And I will do it!

Responsible social dialogue

During my mandate, a priority will be to ensure a continuous dialogue with citizens and civil society. I will do everything for citizens to participate in the decision-making process, and this process should be maximally transparent. I will dispose the creation of a Council under the aegis of the President of the Republic of Moldova, consisting of civil society representatives, academic sphere, experts. My goal is that all decisions and initiatives coming from the President’s Office are widely discussed, transparent and democratic.

The role of free and independent press is very important in the prosperity of the nation and any responsible politician will support the activity of informing the society. I will give all the necessary support to mass-media and I wish our journalists to be free and independent, also impartial and fair in covering the events.

Reforms for the people

Along with the implementation of one or another reform, we must think first about people, about what will they get as a result of these reforms. We do not need reforms for the sake of reforms or reforms for reporting to creditors and development partners. We need reforms in order to create jobs, to increase salaries and pensions, to ensure education and qualitative health services; reforms in order to ensure fairness and social justice, social protection of the disadvantaged ones, for inclusion. The impact of these reforms should be increasing Moldovan citizen’s quality of life and not vice versa. Reforms for the people, not people for reforms. This is our real goal.

We are a Christian nation!

What unifies all of us, the citizens of the Republic of Moldova, is our religion Christian - Orthodox. Over 90% of the country's citizens declared themselves Christians: in this large religious category we find people of all ethnicities, of all political views, of all ages and social classes.

The Orthodox - Christian religion is our national link, it provides a solid foundation for our moral principles, it is impregnated throughout our living traditions and rules. That is why, in my capacity of President and humble Christian, I will support the Church and I will support those activities that will ensure the protection of Christian values within the Moldovan society.

Moldova - our common home!

The Republic of Moldova is the native home for over twenty ethnicities, who knew how to live together in harmony here on Moldovan earth for hundreds of years. Together with Ukrainians, Russians, Gagauz, Bulgarians, together with Jews and Polish, together with Roma and other confreres of ours, we always knew to live as a Family within common Motherland –Republic of Moldova! Here I would like to address in Russian to our Russian-speaking countrymen, but also to our guests who came from Russia and CIS countries.

We, the representatives of different ethnic groups - Moldavians, Ukrainians, Russian, Bulgarian, Gagauz and others - live in the same country and equally love it. Moldova - is our common motherland, and there will be no other one.

Several years of incompetent leadership of liberals and unionists planted again and nurtured within our society the seeds of hostility. But as you know, "there are times to scatter stones and time to gather stones." I enter this honourable position with the goal to gather stones, so precipitately scattered by former irresponsible actions.

The ethnic diversity of our people –is our strength, not a weakness. That gives us the opportunity to use all that is best in the cultural heritage of our people, for the development of our society, for strengthening and prosperity of our common Motherland.

Our statehood can only be built on the basis of the Moldovan identity. As President, I will do everything for Moldova to become a truly independent state, building its internal policies and have its own point of view in the sphere of foreign policy.

Building a unified civil poly-ethnic nation will bring us closer to the settlement of the Transnistrian issue. Merging banks of the Dniester –is one of my main tasks as President. And I will put every effort to resolve this issue in the interests of the majority of the people of both banks. On both banks of the river live representatives of one nation. In our common history there were difficult times, but I believe that there are more things that unite us rather than divide. We will seek for a solution to this problem on a “win-win” principle. In this regard, there will be no one losing in the Transnistrian settlement.

Russia a strategic partner of Moldova!

Restoring full-fledged friendly and strategic partnership relations with the Russian Federation is my priority goal as Head of state. My first official visit as President of the Republic of Moldova will be to the Russian Federation. I am convinced that this will build the basis for qualitatively new relations between our two friendly countries.

Restoring Moldovan-Russian relations will have a positive impact on the economy of our country, on various sectors of the economy of Moldova, on hundreds of thousands of farmers and migrant workers.

Foreign policy based on mutual respect and common advantages

The Republic of Moldova will promote a foreign policy based on partnership and friendship with all countries. We will intensify relations with our neighbour countries - Romania and Ukraine. We will develop multidimensional cooperation with the EU, recently I gladly accepted the invitation to visit Brussels as Head of State and I hope it will take place in the first months of year 2017. And our further cooperation with the US and the People's Republic of China will be a priority for us. We will spread bridges both eastward and westward.

Dear citizens,

It the beginning of a journey we must have a clear vision on the final destination. I wish that at the end of my mandate Moldova becomes a prosperous country and its citizens are confident in the day of tomorrow. I will work in order to offer the Moldovan people a better present and future. There is an ancient wisdom, which I fully share. It says that a leader should remember three things. First, that he leads people. Second, that he leads by the law. And third, that he won’t always lead. I will always take into account this principle. And I will take care to make sure that after my leadership I have only few regrets, while citizens of the country have as many positive opinions as possible.

Thank you for your attention!

May God help us!