We weren’t asked for advice and didn’t provide advice in this regard, the Ambassador of the European Union to the Republic of Moldova Janis Mazeiks said, referring to the draft law on the implementation of postal voting. The European diplomat noted that Moldova will not be the first country to introduce postal voting, but it is not yet clear how this mechanism will be implemented, IPN reports.
Ambassador Janis Mazeiks said that the European Union will respect the decision of the citizens of the Republic of Moldova, whatever their option will be in the referendum on the country’s European integration. The EU will continue to provide support to Moldova’s citizens either they vote for or against the accession to the EU.
“The referendum will be a reflection of the will of the citizens of the Republic of Moldova and we will respect the will of the people, whatever it may be. If we look at the polls, the citizens’ attitudes towards the European Union are quite positive. If the citizens of the Republic of Moldova decide that this is not their path, we will interact with the Government as long as the authorities want to get involved. Even during the worst periods between the European Union and the Republic of Moldova, we supported the Moldovan citizens anyway, we worked with NGOs because there were times when the Government didn’t become involved. I hope and am convinced that this time this will not be the case, but we will respect any will of the people,” Janis Mazeiks stated in the program “At 360 Degrees” on Radio Moldova station.
In the same connection, the European diplomat said that the European Union was not consulted about the authorities’ decision to introduce postal voting.
“We don’t have an opinion, frankly speaking. I understand that the aim is to have better opportunities for the Moldovan citizens to make their voice heard. We weren’t asked for advice and didn’t provide advice in this regard. What I can say is that Moldova will not be the only country in the world that could offer the possibility of postal voting, but how this legislation will be worked out and implemented. We must see in the coming months,” said the Head of the European Union Delegation to the Republic of Moldova.
Recently, the MPs of the Party of Action and Solidarity registered a bill on the piloting of postal voting. According to PAS MPs, the bill comes to ease the voting process for the diaspora citizens, especially in countries where distances to polling stations are very long. The authors of the bill say that postal voting will be implemented initially in Canada and the United States so that the state institutions can ensure that the mechanism protects the vote of every citizen.
