This year’s edition of the International Documentary Film Festival Cronograf is presenting 49 films. The Festival will kick off Wednesday with the screening of the Oscar-winning “Free Solo”. The Festival will feature several documentary premieres from Moldovan filmmakers.Organizers say the films have been selected from a record number of about 900 entries from 51 countries. The 15th edition of the Cronograf Festival will take place during May 22-28, with the movie theater Odeon as its main location. A day ticket costs 70 lei, a four-day ticket for May 25-28 costs 200 lei and a pass for the entire duration of the Festival costs 250 lei.

Representatives of the Bloc ACUM, who convoked a special session of Parliament for May 21, said an undeclared alliance that works against the people exists between the Party of Socialists, the Democratic Party and the Shor Party. Only the ACUM MPs came to the sitting. “This majority works against the citizens of the Republic of Moldova, against the country. This majority made the whole Parliament nonfunctional from all viewpoints,” stated Andrei Năstase, the leader of the Party “Dignity and Truth Platform”.

After the Bloc ACUM announced the meeting, the Party of Socialists issued a press release, saying the proposal to convene a Parliament sitting now is unfounded and does not deserve being taken into account.

The Moldovans can enjoy the living standards of the European Union only through the union with Romania, not by integration into the European Union, which is not possible, stated the ex-President of Romania Traian Băsescu, the president of honor of the People’s Movement Party. He noted that Romania offered €100 million for reanimating schools and kindergartens and for implementing many other projects. The process of regaining Romanian nationality was made flexible and there are now almost 1 million Romanian citizens with papers in order in Moldova. Romania managed to use the opportunities offered by the EU, while Moldova failed to attract funds to improve the life of its citizens.

Bones that are most probably human were discovered in the Park “Valea Morilor” near the U.S. Embassy in Chisinau. It was preliminarily established that the bones date from the World War II as parts of a military uniform of that time were found at the scene.

Moldova is among the countries with a higher rate of application of probation, but also of imprisonment, alongside the Czech Republic, Russia and Lithuania, while Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and Monaco have low probation and imprisonment rates, shows the annual Council of Europe survey on persons under the supervision of probation agencies in Europe for 2018 (SPACE II). The report says the number of Europeans under the supervision of probation agencies, who are subject to community sanctions and measures, such as electronic monitoring, community service, house arrest and treatment, and the number of persons in semi-freedom or released on bail increased, while the number of persons held in jails declined.

Since the DCFTA started to be applied, the configuration of Moldova’s foreign trade changed, the European Union becoming the country’s main commercial partner with exports to the EU representing 70% and imports constituting 50%. The figures were presented by Minister of Economy and Infrastructure Kiril Gaburici in a meeting with EU Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström in Kiev. According to the minister, multiple opportunities for the economic and suitable development of Moldova were created thanks to the EU. “We will continue to work in this direction and to respect the commitments,” stated Kiril Gaburici.

The sector of small and medium-sized enterprises is the most important sector of Moldova’s economy. During 12 years of activity, the Organization for the Development of the Sector of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises ODIMM helped more than 120,000 persons from the country and Moldovans who work abroad to benefit from the projects promoted by the organization. It provided over 400 million lei worth of grants, which generated over 1 billion lei cumulative investment in the economy and more than 6,000 jobs.

Beginning next Monday and for the following two weeks, the Border Police, the Investment Agency and a group of travel operators will pilot an electronic communication channel aimed at facilitating crossing of the border for buses carrying tourists. It is then planned that the channel will be operated throughout the high season by all travel agencies organizing trips abroad. A border officer and a customs officer will be waiting for the bus, and a dedicated processing lane will be reserved if the crossing point gets crowded. As a result wait times will be reduced to under 30 minutes.

Details on IPN!