Practically open confrontation between Moldova and Russia was the climax of 2003, Valeriu Strelet

[Info-Prim Neo article from the Series “Moldova-20! Whereto?”] [Each of the 20 years of independence in Moldova has its meaning and role in what happened in the period and, undoubtedly, in what is going to happen in the country and the people’s lives in the future. Info-Prim Neo asked politicians, analysts, experts and personalities from different areas to pronounce on the main events that took place during a certain year and assess their impact on the country.] [The year 2003 as seen by Valeriu Strelet, leader of the Liberal-Democratic parliamentary group and vice president of the Liberal Democratic Party (PLDM)] • [February 28] – There was constituted the National Commission on European Integration in Parliament. • [March 11] – Moldova-Ukraine-European Commission expert-level trilateral consultations on the joint control over the Moldovan-Ukrainian border and the introduction of new customs stamps in Moldova. • [March 11] – The European Commission submitted the strategy “Wider Europe: A new Framework for Relations with our Eastern and Southern Neighbors” to the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament for approval. • [March 14] – There was passed the Penal Code. • [March 28] – There were adopted amendments to the Labor Code. • [May 30] – There was passed the Civil Code. • [August 8] – The Government approved the decision concerning the creation of the European Integration Department within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and of European integration subdivisions within the relevant ministries and departments. • [November 15] – The parliamentary groups adopted a joint statement whereby they pledge to cooperate closely in the European integration process. • [November 17] – There was made public Russia’s memorandum on the main principles of the structure of the unified state, named the “Kozak Plan”. The document was endorsed by President Vladimir Voronin in the meetings with his two predecessors - Mircea Snegur and Petru Luchinski, leaders of parliamentary groups and the diplomatic corps working in Chisinau. A week later, Vladimir Voronin announced that the signing of the memorandum was postponed. • [December 18] – The European Parliament adopted a resolution on Moldova, which states the European Parliament’s position on the situation of the democratic institutions and the rule of law in la Moldova, disapproves of the draft memorandum on the settlement of the Transnistrian conflict proposed by Russia in November 2003 and reiterates Russia’s international commitments as regards the pullout of its troops and munitions from Moldova’s territory. [According to the vice president of the PLDM Valeriu Strelet], the adoption of the Penal Code and the Civil Code and the amendments made to the Labor Code in 2003 confirmed that the Communist government, after a long period of uncertainty that it needed to realize the responsibility borne when having full power, started to deal with the situation in a responsible manner, getting rid of the slogans of the 2001 campaign about Moldova’s inclusion in the Russia-Belarus Union, the settlement of the Transnistrian dispute in a year, etc. Valeriu Strelet specified that the Penal Code and the Civil Code were drafted before the PCRM took over. “A remarkable moment of 2003 was the fact that after a period of confusion and hesitation, the Communist government began to treat the European integration as strategic development direction, changing the relevant parliamentary commission into the commission on foreign policy and European integration and creating the European Integration Department within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and of European integration subdivisions within other governmental departments,” said the vice president of the PLDM. He also said that the practically open confrontation between Moldova and Russia, which followed the non-approval of the Kozak Memorandum in November 2003, was the climax of 2003. “Knowing the conditions in which Vladimir Voronin was imposed to defy Vladimir Putin, we respectfully and gratefully invoke the mass public protests, the involvement of the Western embassies, the Freedom Town, the Committee for the Defense of the Independence and the Constitution and other facts and cannot say that the Communists consciously, consistently and perspicaciously started to follow the path to European integration,” said Valeriu Strelet. He stressed that after the left wing took revenge and following the February 2001 deception, the end of 2003 was a turning point for Moldova’s destiny, which determined the maintaining of a balance of geopolitical interests in the region and of the European integration prospects. {Valeriu Strelet heads the Liberal-Democratic parliamentary group and is the vice president of the PLDM. Since 2003 until present, he has served as director general of FPC Bioprotect. In 2006, he was named head of the United Nations Global Compact Network in Moldova. In August 2009, he entered Parliament.} [Dumitrita Ciuvaga, Info-Prim Neo]