Moldovan Lib-Dems ask Europarliament, EC to intervene to have Trans-Border Convention signed

The Liberal-Democratic Party from Moldova (PLDM) has lodged a memo with the Delegation of the European Commission in Chisinau on Wednesday in the address to the European Parliament and the European Commission, demanding them to intervene to ensure the signing of the Small Trans-Frontier Traffic Convention, Info-Prim Neo reports. The memo is part of the PLDM's moves to have the convention signed. “Unfortunately, the Government's position remains unchanged and the only solution we see is that the European Parliament and the EC intervene directly to mediate and , why not, to influence the Chisinau Government to sign the convention,” stated PLDM leader Vlad Filat at a news conference. According to the MP, the convention on small trans-frontier traffic is a EU document, which exceeds the frame of the bilateral Moldo-Romanian relationships and is part to the neighborhood policies of the European Community, and stepping up its signing is a competence of the European Parliament and of the EC. The PLDM leadership is to go to Strasbourg and Brusells to discuss the issue with Europarliamentarians and EC officials. “We hope involving the European structures will finally lead to signing the convention, a document in the interest of over 1 million Moldovan citizens,” Vlad Filat said. Earlier PLDM organized meetings with citizens living along the Prut river and in Chisinau to support the signing of the document. Ten district councils and the Chisinau council adopted decisions asking the Government to sign the convention. They collected some 16,500 signatures favoring the convention, as all those documents were submitted to the Government. The draft Convention on the small frontier traffic was offered by the Romanian Government to the Moldovan Government on March 25. It provides for the Moldovan citizens, living 30 km off the Romanian border to be able to enter the neighboring country without visas, with a special permit. On April 17, the Moldovan Foreign Ministry issued a communique conditioning the signing of the Convention with the signing of the Border Treaty between Moldova Romania.