Moldovan border guards hinder three Romanian delegations from crossing frontier

Three Romanian delegations heading for Chisinau to take part in the City Day on the invitation of the local authorities went back after the Moldovan border guards denied them access, Chisinau Mayor General Dorin Chirtoaca told a news conference on Friday evening. According to the mayor, the Romanian President Traian Basescu cancelled his visit to Chisinau invoking programme reasons. The delegation from Bacau was not allowed to cross the border at Leuseni Customs. The Moldovan border guards told the deputy major of Bacau Constantin Scripat that nobody will guarantee his security even if he manages to cross the frontier, Dorin Chirtoaca said. The mayor of Chisinau says that the interdiction was ordered by the state authorities, who staged a negative surprise on the City Day and this can turn into a diplomatic scandal between Moldova and Romania. Dorin Chirtoaca also said that the cancellation of Basescu’s visit and the return of the Romanian delegations could be connected. The Romanian president could have been informed that he might be treated in the same way, the mayor said. Mihai Ghimpu, chairman of the Chisinau Municipal Council, said that the hindering of the Romanian delegations from crossing the border is a serious violation of the human rights as any citizen of the European Union can enter Moldova holding just a passport. The authorities are in an agony and immediately after the celebrations in Chisinau are over, the democratic political organisations should respond to the given incident, municipal councillor Alexandru Tanase said. When the news story was broadcast on Saturday morning, the deputy mayor of Chisinau Lucia Culev, who was going to Iasi as part of a delegation to participate in the City Day there, told Info-Prim Neo that the delegations from Targu-Mures and Navodari, which were heading for Chisinau, also went back. Only the deputy mayor of Bucharest Razvan Murgeanu municipality managed to cross the Moldovan border with his diplomatic passport. On Friday night, the delegation from Petrosani was detained at Leuseni Customs. A representative of the Romanian Consulate and the Mayor Dorin Chirtoaca travelled to the place. It is now known if the largest delegation, from Pitesti, which was to sign an cooperation agreement with Chisinau, will set off, Lucia Culev said. Thirteen foreign delegations, including seven from Romania, were expected to the City Day this year. The City Hall allocated 410,000 lei for delegations’ accommodations.