President Nicolae Timofti will take part in the Summit of CIS Heads of State in Minsk on October 25. His spokesman Vlad Turcanu told a news conference that the heads of state from the Commonwealth of Independent States will discuss such issues as cooperation in tourism, the fight against organized crime and trafficking in drugs and the organization of activities to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, IPN reports.
As to the 70th anniversary, Vlad Turcanu said that Nicolae Timofti is against Russia’s proposal to institute a CIS medal with the Communist symbols on it – the hammer and sickle. “In principle, Moldova is not against instituting a medal for the veterans of World War II. But the President will tell his counterparts that Moldova cannot accept a medal with the hammer and sickle on it as a political party in our country uses these symbols for political purposes. This is against an article of the Law on Political Parties, which stipulates the inadmissibility of discrimination against parties,” he stated.
Nicolae Timofti also considers that the use of these symbols should be avoided owing to the huge human and material damage caused by the Soviet regime. Consequently, Moldova will make its own medals intended for war veterans, which will not contain the mentioned symbols.
In another development, Vlad Turcanu said that the head of state perceives the Minsk meeting as an occasion for strengthening the bilateral relations between Moldova and the other CIS member states. He will tell his counterparts that the initialing of the Association Agreement with the EU does not mean the breakup of the economic relations with the CIS. On the contrary, they will be strengthened.
