National Liberal Party asks Angela Merkel to convince Russia to annul Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact

The National Liberal Party (PNL) is supporting the initiative of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev to create a EU-Russia committee to address, among other, the Transnistrian settlement. In a letter sent to the German Chancellor and presented on Monday at a news conference, the PNL expresses its hope that this committee, which would be a forum for the European Union and Russia to exchange views on issues of international security and foreign policy, will identify the real causes behind Moldova's separatism. National Liberal leader Vitalia Pavlicenco recalls in the letter that on 28 June 1940 the current territory of the Republic of Moldova was occupied by the Soviet Union, following an agreement with Germany's Nazi regime, which led to the separation of the Romanian nation along the Prut River. “Political will is needed to re-unify the two Romanian states. Reunification was a miracle which happened to Germany, but which has been delayed in the case of Romania”, the letter reads. The PNL is asking the German Chancellor, “who committed to represent Moldova's interests in the dialogue with Russia”, to persuade the latter's political leadership to right, as soon as possible, the wrong done 70 years ago – the separation of Romania – through the cancellation of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. At the same news conference, Vitalia Pavlicenco said the PNL saluted the presidential decree proclaming June 28 as the Soviet Occupation Day. The PNL believes the decree shouldn't be revoked and hopes that the Constitutional Court, which is to pronounce on the legality of the decree, will make a decision based on the law, and not on political influences. “The PNL doesn't want the collapse of the Alliance for European Integration and doesn't want the dismissal of Mihai Ghimpu, considering that this step by Ghimpu has given Moldova a Romanian identity”, stated Vitalia Pavlicenco. “The only body that can pronounce on the decree is the Constitutional Court (...) while the fact of the Soviet occupation on 28 June 1940 was recognized by the Declaration of Independence”, remarked PNL vice-president Anatol Revenco. Anatol Josanu, representing the party's youth wing, suggested that criminal responsibility should be introduced for those who deny or praise the Soviet occupation, following the example of Lithuania.