[Info-Prim Neo article from the Series “Moldova-20! Whereto?”] [Each of the 20 years of independence in Moldova has its meaning and role in what happened in the period and, undoubtedly, in what is going to happen in the country and the people’s lives in the future. Info-Prim Neo asked politicians, analysts, experts and personalities from different areas to pronounce on the main events that took place during a certain year and assess their impact on the country.] [The year 2010 as seen by Anatol Taranu, political analyst and former MP.] • [February 16] – The Council of the European Union decided to extend the restriction measures against the leaders of Moldova’s Transnistrian region. • [October 25] – There were made public the conclusions concerning Moldova, adopted by the EU Foreign Affairs Council. • [November 28] – There were held early legislative elections. The PCRM won 42 seats of MP, the PLDM – 32, the PDM – 15, while the PL – 12. • [December 1] – The PCRM demanded a vote recount, invoking violations committed on the election day. • [December 15] – The votes cast in the November 28, 2010 early legislative elections were recounted. The PCRM obtained another 308 votes, while the PLDM, the PDM and the PL lost 112, 227 and, respectively, 98 votes. The results did not affect the distribution of seats. • [December 30] – There was signed the agreement to constitute the Alliance for European Integration (AEI 2). • [December 30] – Marian Lupu became Moldova’s Acting President. [According to political analyst Anatol Taranu], the early parliamentary elections were the main even of 2010 as their outcome confirmed that the parties of the Alliance for European Integration had supremacy in the political life in Moldova. ”The PCRM’s attempt to return to power failed. The Communists obtained fewer seats of MP compared with the previous elections and this fact indisputably marked everything that happened in Moldova later. For me, those early elections won by the AEI represented the main event of 2010,” said Anatol Taranu. He also said that in 2010 Moldova was unable to deepen the reform process, which was rather stagnant. Nevertheless, 2010 confirmed again that Moldova’s Western partners, first of all the EU, continued to look at Moldova with hope and were ready to provide considerable assistance in different areas. The analyst also said that the head of state could not be elected in 2010 and the political situation remained unstable. It was mainly due to the destructive position of the PCRM, which was not able to politically cooperate with other parties. He stressed that this does not yet excuse the components of the Alliance for European Integration, which could not reach an agreement with the PCRM. In another redevelopment, Anatol Taranu stated that the signing of the Declaration of Independence, which marked the appearance of the Republic of Moldova, hasn’t been yet eclipsed by other political events of such a scale. “I consider the adoption in 1991 of the Declaration of Independence was the most important event in the 20 years of independence, even if Moldova has not yet become a perfectly established state,” he said. {Anatol Taranu is a Doctor of History. He was a member of the first Parliament of Moldova. In 1991, he voted for the Declaration of Independence. He served as an MP representing the electoral bloc “Democratic Moldova” in 2005-2009. He headed the History Institute of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova, was Moldova’s Ambassador to Russia, presidential adviser and chief negotiator of Chisinau in the Transnistrian issue. Now Anatol Taranu is a researcher, coordinator of the History, State and Law Institute of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova, and director of the Strategic Research and Political Consultancy Institute “Politicon”.} [Dumitrita Ciuvaga, Info-Prim Neo]