“President Nicolae Timofti will further promote women to leading posts, as he recognizes their competence and abilities, which often surpass those of some men”, presidential spokesman Vlad Turcani told a press briefing today, in reaction to a letter by the National NGOs Council which criticized the President for not respecting gender equality, in particular when appointing the presidential team and delegations. “The President says he loves women and there is no place for misogynous expressions in his vocabulary”, said Vlad Turcanu. Turcanu dismissed the Council's allegations by saying that the Presidential staff is composed of 27 men and 37 women. “Concerning the delegations accompanying the President in relation to which the authors of the letter claimed that they do not contain female members, the President would like to point out that this information is inaccurate, a proof being, for example, the presence of Deputy Foreign Minister Natalia Gherman in the delegation which accompanied him to Brussels on April 27. In general, invited to join official delegations are public officials from different government agencies, who are selected according to their position and competence and not based on gender criteria”, said Vlad Turcanu. Turcanu also denied the allegation that the President's Office is not interested in female advisers, claiming that such posts had been proposed to several women, including one of the women who signed today's letter.