The actions taken in Gagauzia on February 2, called by the organizers as ‘referendum’, were based on strictly political reasons, not on legal reasons, and can have no legal consequences, it is said in a joint statement of the Pro-European Coalition.

The People’s Assembly of Gagauzia is accused of ignoring the possibility of finding out the people’s opinion by legal ways and of neglecting the procedures of the Central Election Commission and the legislation on referendums. “The February 2 plebiscite was aimed exclusively at manipulating the public opinion. Those who were behind it make effort to discredit the idea of legal authority in Moldova, which is a guarantee for every person and for the state. Ignoring the legal norms, the organizers of the so-called referendum cynically involved the residents of the communities inhabited mainly by Gagauz people in political events that had evil electoral goals,” reads the statement.

According to the Pro-European Coalition, the major objective of the forces that organized this referendum is to destabilize the situation all over Moldova. The greatest part of the responsibility for the created situation is borne by the Communist Party, which openly supported the referendum for which it paved the way by its civil unrest actions of 2010, the so-called civic congress of 2011, the campaign to undermine the state symbols, undermining of the work of state institutions, split of society according to ethnical criteria, and promotion of separatism.

The authorities call on the Moldovan people not to believe or become involved in the illegal activities of those who aim to incite hatred and to destabilize the situation in the country. The statement also says that Moldova is determined to follow the path to European integration and the people will soon feel the multiple effects of this option. “In several months, the visa regime with the European Union will be abolished. The process of integrating into the EU will bring benefits to all the country’s citizens, regardless of their geographical position or ethnicity,” says the statement of the government coalition.

The coalition expresses its confidence that the competent state institutions will act determinedly and appropriately so as not to allow the multiplication of illegal actions and the destabilization of the internal situation in Moldova.