Banning of Romanian delegations from entering Moldova caused losses of 45m euros, PLDM

The banning of official delegations of the Iasi and Vaslui County Councils from crossing the Moldovan border on March 26 caused Moldova losses assessed at 45 million euros. Such a statement was made by the president of the Liberal Democratic Party (PLDM) Vlad Filat a news conference on Monday, March 30. The delegations were to participate in a forum of heads of the Siret-Prut-Nistru Euroregion held in Ialoveni, Info-Prim Neo reports. According to the PLDM leader, the agenda of the forum included the signing of a strategy for the economic and social development of the Siret-Prut-Nistru Euroregion and the approval of the strategy’s budget for 2009. The strategy for the economic and social development of the Euroregion contains about 100 development projects, some of which are to be completed as part of the Romania -Ukraine-Moldova 2007-2013 Joint Operational Program. The Euroregion created in 2002 is composed of two Romanian counties and 18 Moldovan districts. “It is very important to know that this project is valued at 138 million euros, 45 million euros of which was earmarked for 2009. As the agreements planned to be signed on March 26 in Ialoveni remained unsigned, Moldova missed investments in infrastructure-related projects,” Filat said. Vlad Filat also said that during a phone conversation this morning, the head of the Iasi County Council Constantin Simirad said that Romania will continue to insist on the efficient implementation of the strategy that was to be signed. In this connection, the PLDM on Friday filed an interpellation to the Prime Minister of Moldova, asking for information about the reasons for banning the delegations from crossing the Moldovan border. On Monday, the PLDM lodged a memorandum to the European Commission and the European Parliament. “The memorandum includes sufficient details and evidence about the events happening on Moldova’s border with the EU,” the PLDM leader said. At the same news conference, lawyer Vitalie Nagacevschi, who is a candidate for MP on behalf of the PLDM, said that he appealed against the Buiucani Court’s decision of March 24, 2009, whereby two Romanian nationals Razvan Cazacu and Radu Popescu were put under one-day administrative arrest and expelled from Moldova. “We demand that the decision of the Buiucani Court is quashed and that the culprits are summoned to the Chisinau Court of Appeals so that the appeal is examined in their presence. We also demand that the Court orders that the Border Guard Service and the Customs Service allow the given persons to cross the state border”, he said. Starting with today, the PLDM will file a lawsuit over the banning of Bessarabian students studying in Romania from entering Moldova to take part in a protest staged by the PLDM on March 22 and will file an application to the European Court of Human Rights.