Alliance leaders celebrate Flag Day separately

The National Flag Day was marked separately by the leaders of the tripartite Alliance for European Integration. The Liberal Party participated in a festivity at the statue of Stephen the Great, the Liberal-Democratic Party celebrated the occasion at the Ministry of Defense, while the leader of the Democratic Party Marian Lupu said he wasn't invited to join any festivity at all, Info-Prim Neo reports. Liberal members and Chisinau City Hall officials laid wreaths of flowers at the monument to Stephen the Great, an event also attended by members of the first Moldovan Parliament since the country's independence, writers and other public figures. Prime Minister Vlad Filat, the leader of the Liberal-Democratic Party, together with other state officials, clergy and military members, marked the National Flag Day at the Ministry of Defense. Asked by reporters why he didn't participate in either of these events, Democrat leader Marian Lupu, who is also the Speaker of Parliament and acting President, said he wasn't invited. Normally, he said, the organizing authorities should have established an official agenda, like in the case of the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, which was marked yesterday. “It's difficult for me to say why this wasn't done this time. I don't rule out the possibility that this lack of a centralized organization could be related to the upcoming elections. I didn't receive any proposal to participate. As a rule, such things are arranged well in advance – I receive proposals for participation together with the full agenda of the event in question, but for today this wasn't done”, said Marian Lupu. Today's Government sitting started with homage being paid to the national flag and Prime Minister Vlad Filat said he hoped that in the future the National Flag Day would be organized in a more organized manner than this year. The blue-yellow-red tricolor was proclaimed to be Moldova's national flag on 27 April 1990.