The Nondiscrimination Coalition has welcomed the approval by the Government and the adoption by Parliament of the Equality of Chances Law, stating in a press release that this demonstrates an understanding of democratic values and the government's political maturity, Info-Prim Neo reports. While in the adopted version the Law omits four protected characteristics – health, sexual orientation, property and social origin – the Coalition hopes it will apply in their respect as well, in virtue of the European Court of Human Right's case-law, which is directly applicable in the Moldovan judicial system. The process of developing the anti-discrimination legislation started back in 2004, involving experts, national and international human rights organizations, as well as government representatives. The Nondiscrimination Coalition has appreciated the participation in the public debate process and the openness of the governmental institutions in developing and promoting the law, except for the amendments made at the last stages of debating the bill in the Cabinet and Parliament. With the Law in place, the Nondiscrimination Coalition hopes that its provisions are understood and respected by the Government and other public and private entities, and that they are interpreted by the Moldovan courts in conformity with the relevant European standards. The adoption of antidiscrimination legislation has been a condition for Moldova to advance in the visa liberalization dialogue with the EU.