EU may get involved in managing Moldova crisis

On May 7, the European Parliament is to pass a resolution about the situation in Moldova after the April 5 elections and the April 7 events. 36 requests and findings are in the draft resolution, posted on the web site of the European parliament, Info-Prim Neo reports. The EU strongly condemns the massive campaign of harassment, grave violations of human rights and all other illegal actions undertaken by the Moldovan government in the aftermath of the parliamentary elections and takes note of the launch of a national investigation commission to examine the above-mentioned abuses but deplores that the Commission is formed only by government party representatives; therefore demands the inclusion in the commission of representatives of all political parties, of civil society, mass media and Council of Europe. The EU underlines however that internal tensions in the Republic of Moldova are very high and therefore strongly believes that there is an urgent need to create an international independent investigation commission with the participation of the EU, Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture and independent experts aimed at ensuring an impartial and transparent process of investigation. The EU calls for a special investigation to be conducted on the cases of the deceased persons in the events following the elections as well as into all allegations of rape and ill-treatment during detention and politically-motivated arrests such as those of Anatol Matasaru and Gabriel Stati. In the draft resolution, the EU condemns the campaign of harassment launched by the Moldovan authorities against journalists, civil society representatives and opposition parties, in particular arrests and expulsions of journalists, interruption of access to websites and TV stations, information propaganda launched on public channels and denial of access of opposition representatives to public media; deems these actions as aiming to isolate the Republic of Moldova from domestic and international media and public scrutiny; regrets and condemns the continuation of this censorship through the letters sent by the Ministers of Home Affairs and the Minister of Justice to the NGOs, political parties and mass media. The EU regrets the threatening rhetoric of the Moldovan President and Prime-Minister on the prospects of ‘inevitable use of armed forces’ and ‘punishment’ and finds them unacceptable, calls therefore upon the Moldovan authorities to refrain in the future from such statements leading to heightened tension. The EU expresses its strong position that statements made by the Moldovan authorities accusing foreign governments, i.e. Romania as responsible or involved in inspiring and organizing acts of violence and vandalism in Chisinau are regrettable and urges the Moldovan government to refrain from engaging in hostile acts that may damage country's international standing. The EU may ask for an immediate elimination of visas for Romanian citizens and for the immediate reform of the public TV and Radio stations in order to ensure total independence of these institutions. The draft resolution also reads that, in order to preserve its credibility for the people of Republic of Moldova, the EU shall get involved in the management of the current situation.