Moldovan parliament speaker says Moldova-Russia relation must be based on mutual respect

Chisinau, 9 February /MOLDPRES/ - Moldova’s relation with Russia must be based on mutual respect; we want a practical cooperation and an understanding of the fact that Moldova is not a slave state, just as some people still see it. Parliament Speaker Andrian Candu has made statements to this effect at a TV programme.   

According to Candu, Chisinau should have a relation of partnership with Moscow; yet, on the other hand, our citizens who travel to Russia are intimidated, arrested, even at the level of ministers. “So, we cannot speak about any respect. We tried to find certain solutions, but we used to get a slap in the face to a stretched hand. Everything that is taking place in Transnistria is with Russia’s interference. The army, ammunitions belong to Russia. Our law-enforcement institutions have identified a lot of Russian passports issued to persons who were born in the Transnistrian region,” Candu said.  

The parliament speaker noted that the amendments made to the Audiovisual Code, which provide for the restricting of the re-broadcasting of the analytical programmes  from Russia – amendments condemned by Russia’s State Duma, had been necessary, being suggested by more experts. “We organized an international conference last year, through which we summoned to Chisinau the best experts in everything dealing with the television and propaganda. All specialists were telling us that there is manipulation, propaganda and misinforming in Moldova on behalf of some media sources, including TV ones, from Russia. The Ukrainian kept saying us: do you want to get to war? Do you want to have what we have with Crimea? Afterwards, all our analyses led to the fact that we must take measures, which we have actually undertaken,” Candu also said.    

On 8 February, the Moldovan parliament approved a Declaration, thereby condemning Russia’s attacks on the national information security and abusive interference with the political activity in Moldova. The document was voted by the majority of the MPs present at the meeting. The lawmakers from the factions of the Party of Socialists and Party of Communists boycotted the meeting.  

At the same time, the MPs made an appeal to the high-ranking decision-makers of Russia to intervene in order to cease all these abuses and campaigns of denigrating Moldova, stop any form of backing the political parties from Moldova, noting that their financing from external sources is illegal, just as their support by other ways.  

(Reporter A. Zara, editor L. Alcaza)