Twelve, not thirteen parties, as expected, on Sunday signed the “Pact for Europe” - an agreement on the European integration of the Republic of Moldova, similar to the one signed in Snagov, which in 1995 stipulated the strategic objective of the Romanian political class. Among them is the PAS, which benefited from its dominance in Parliament and recently adopted a declaration of European integration. Moreover, the party promotes the amendment of the Constitution in this regard, IPN reports.
The document, aimed at achieving a national consensus, avoiding controversies, overcoming dissensions in European matters was generated by the newly constituted bloc “Together” - with the Dignity and Truth Platform, the League of Towns and Communes, the Party of Change and the Coalition for Unity and Welfare as components. The four parties launched the idea of a national consensus document in April, but have repeatedly criticized the current government of the Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) for what they called the “monopolization” of the country’s European path.
The surprise, which wasn’t made clear on Sunday, was that Vlad Filat’s Liberal-Democratic Party was absent from the ceremony to sign the Pact. Moreover, by virtue of previously released information, a number of media outlets reported that the Pact was signed by 13 political parties.
In essence, the signatory parties have assumed the political commitment to fully contribute to the integration of the Republic of Moldova into the European Union. The parties also undertook to promote the rule of law, social cohesion and national solidarity around the strategic objective of European integration, putting the public interest above personal, group and party interests.
The third point of the Pact for Europe refers to the condemnation of the war of aggression “and the forced occupation of the territories of sovereign and independent states, manifesting our deep attachment to the principles of international law and conventions, which defend the sovereignty, independence and integrity of the signatory states of the UN Charter, principles recognized in the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova and the fundamental treaties of the European Union”.
The signing of the “Pact for Europe” is a moment of special symbolism, which proves that the European Union has no political color, Romania’s Ambassador in Chisinau Cristian-Leon Țurcanu said after the representatives of the respective parties pledged to make a common front to bring the Republic of Moldova into the European family.
Ukraine’s Ambassador in Chisinau Marko Shevchenko also expressed his conviction that the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine have all the chances to become members of the European Union by the end of this decade. Noting that he is at the end of his diplomatic term, he spoke in Romanian, but addressed in Russian an emotional message “to those citizens of the Republic of Moldova, who look in the opposite direction to the EU. Unfortunately, gone are the days when you could choose between the West and the East. Now you can only choose between peace and war. War comes from the East. If you choose the East, then you need to understand that you are getting a ticket to war. Open the social networking sites Vkontakte, Odnoklasniki, enter the chats in Crimea or Donbas. See there if gas has gotten cheaper. Has electricity become cheaper after 2014 (the year Crimea was annexed)? How many men are there in those families? Keep an eye on discussion forums. How many of those in Crimea who voted in 2014 in a referendum to join Russia are still alive? Because the mobilization took place, first of all, in Crimea and Donbas. The men there were sent to the front line and they died first. This is what happens every time to those who are not interested in politics,” said Ambassador Marko Shevchenko.
