European Year of Citizens matches European integration policy, Vlad Filat

The declaration of 2013 as the European Year of Citizens in Moldova perfectly matches the European integration policy, Prime Minister Vlad Filat said in an interview for Moldpres Agency, Info-Prim Neo reports. The Premier said that 2013 will be a special year for the Moldovans. Vlad Filat said that 2013 was officially declared the European Year of Citizens by the European Parliament and the European Council at the suggestion of the European Commission. The events that will take place within the European year will explain how the people can benefit directly from their rights in the EU and the existing policies and programs. The European year will also stimulate the organization of debates with people at EU level on how the European Union should look in the future and what reforms should be implemented to improve the daily life. “Thus, 2013 will be a special year for the European citizens and for Moldova too. I stated not only once that the Moldovans are European citizens and they should benefit from the same rights and freedoms as the Europeans. We follow this objective in the consistent actions taken over the last three years, whose ultimate goal is Moldova’s integration into the European family,” stated the Premier. He specified that Moldova will have a carefully planned national plan of action and institutions and persons responsible for its implementation. “Our goal is to obtain broader informing of the people, mobilization and wider involvement in the processes concerning Moldova’s European integration. That’s why when I made public this initiative, I referred to the important role that the young people must play in this process,” said Vlad Filat. He also said that 2013 will mobilize the Moldovans more and will strengthen the pro-European option of Moldovan society. He stressed that almost all the senior officials of the European Union and many European leaders have visited Moldova over the last few years. They reiterated their support for Moldova’s European aspirations, this being direct recognition of the country’s successes in the European integration process. Vlad Filat said the European integration is an irreversible process based on the opinions expressed by the people in the last two parliamentary elections. According to him, there are persons who want Moldova to deviate from its path to the EU and they even try to confuse people, but they only play political games. He stressed that the authorities will concentrate their efforts on fulfilling the commitments made to the people and will create decent living conditions in a free, democrat tic and European state.