MP Valeriu Giletski, who was proposed for the post of Moldova’s Ambassador to the U.S., said the promotion of conservative values cannot be described as violation of the human rights, expression of homophobia or other kinds of phobias. In a message on a social networking site, the politician replied to an appeal made by representatives of civil society not to name him ambassador in Washington as he does not respect the human rights by his convictions and actions, IPN reports.

“In a pluralistic society, there must be place for different values. It is important for these values to be promoted in a spirit of respect and tolerance and I made effort to do this every time I stated my opinion in public. The Council of Europe is considered the protector of human rights in Europe. If I didn’t respect the human rights as I am accused, how could I hold elective posts in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, including that of commission head, how could I be named rapporteur on the observance of human rights in such countries as France and Macedonia or how could I be named member of the commission for electing ECHR judges?” he asked.

Valeriu Giletski also wrote that he is the only person of the 19 candidates for ambassador who is criticized and thus ascertains that there is no human rights study based on which all the candidates would be assessed objectively and impartially. “I consider this attitude on the part of civil society representatives is discriminatory, based on religious convictions, including of minority religious groups. This attitude is clearly intolerant and Christianophobic,” he said in his message.

In conclusion, the candidate for ambassador denies the accusations and calls on all those who accused him to reconsider their position and show inclusive, not selective tolerance, and to renounce any form of discrimination, in particular that based on religious convictions.