Fighting corruption remains the main condition Moldova must meet to further enjoy the support of its development partners, stated Viorel Chetraru, head of the National Anticorruption Center (CNA), during the first meeting of the 10th National Anticorruption Conference.
“The moral responsibility of CNA is immense, because our institution is supposed to make a difference. That's why I think that any financial support for our country must be conditioned by concrete progress in the fight against corruption and by truly ensuring the independence of institutions in charge of this task”, said Viorel Chetraru.
According to the CNA chief, in the first 11 months of 2014, 237 of the 560 started prosecutions were filed to courts. CNA files include judges, head of state agencies, representatives of the law enforcing bodies, of the education and healthcare systems, office heads from the tax inspectorates, from the banking system, etc.
Prime minister Iurie Leanca, who attended the conference, promised he would support CNA's battle against corruption and said that state authorities must be more alert and follow the law. The official confirmed that Moldova made some commitments to its development partners, one of the most important being to wipe out corruption.
“For me, it's a strong signal from society: it's time we say 'enough!'. We have reached a critical level and if we don't change anything, we don't have any chance to build a functional society in Moldova. We have the duty to make the most of the last chance given to us by the Moldovan people – to form a new government, a new majority and understand that we cannot govern anymore the way we did until now”, said the head of the Cabinet.
The works of the National Anticorruption Conference will take place over three days, under the slogan “Break the chain of corruption!”. On this occasion, the CNA joined the same-name campaign promoted by the UN, initiating several actions to raise public awareness about the risks of corruption. Fifty billboards were installed in Chisinau targeting the areas considered the most corrupt: justice, healthcare, education, forestry, water supply and roads. People are encouraged to break the chain of corruption and report any cases by calling 0 800 55555, the national anticorruption hotline.
