The PEN Center in Moldova, which is the branch of the World Writers Association based in London, expresses its support for the Ukrainian people who are protesting in Kiev and other towns of the country in favor of the European integration. According to the Center’s Support Statement, among those who take part in the “Euromaidan” in Ukraine are many writers, journalists and people of art who share the same values of freedom and democracy, while Ukraine’s place is indisputably in the European family, where it is present already by its culture and century-old traditions, IPN reports, quoting the Statement.
“On November 29, at the Vilnius Eastern Partnership Summit, Moldova and Georgia initialed the Association Agreement with the EU, which includes the Free Trade Agreement. Also then, Ukraine, which opened the talks on the accords earlier, was to sign its own Association Agreement with the EU. Unfortunately, the selfish interests of its managers and the pressure exerted by Russia, which is ready to resort to any means, including political, economic and military penalties, in order to keep the former Soviet republics in its sphere of influence, made Ukraine miss the European integration chances for now,” reads the Statement.
The PEN Center in Moldova supports the peaceful protests of those who came together on the “Euromaidan” and the Ukrainians’ right to freely and democratically choose the development path, while the victory of Ukraine’s European option will facilitate Moldova’s integration into the Western area. The Center condemns the use of force by the Ukrainian police and security forces against the peaceful protesters and the persecution and intimidation campaign carried out in education institutions against the young people who take part in the protests.
By its Statement, the Center calls on the government of Moldova to express its support for the European aspirations of Ukraine and on the political parties, civil society, the media outlets and creation unions of Moldova to make common cause with the Ukrainian people in their wish to return to the family of free and democratic nations, where Moldova must also be.
