Thousands demand hastening signature of Convention on Small Border Traffic with Romania

Several thousands of people gathered in the center of Chisinau for a protest rally on May 25 to demand that the Moldovan authorities sign the Convention on Small-Scale Border Traffic with Romania. The people’s assembly for hastening the signature of the Convention was organized by the Liberal Democratic Party (PLDM). It was attended by members and supporters of the party from Chisinau and other parts of Moldova, especially the districts bordering Romania. The participants in the protest, which lasted for a little more than one hour, wore green scarves (PLDM’s color), flags of the party, the EU and Moldova, placards with the names of the districts from where they came. The speakers, especially the PLDM leaders, pleaded for the immediate signing of the Convention, which, according to them, will only benefit the Moldovan people. They accused the authorities of hindering the people’s free movement. The PLDM leader Vlad Filat said that the way in which the governors do politics reminds of archaic times, while the manner in which they present themselves in the neighboring countries and the Western chancelleries speaks of the existence of a reservation typical of the cold war period in the heart of Europe. Filat accused the government of exerting pressure on the members of the party and underlined the importance of the campaign for collecting signatures in support of amending the constitutional stipulations regarding the election of the head of state and of the MPs. The first vice president of PLDM Alexandru Tanase compared the work methods of the Moldovan administration with those used by the Soviet KGB, stressing that in 2008, the population has fewer freedoms than 17 years ago, when Moldova proclaimed its independence. Tanase also said that the present government transformed Moldova into a Cuba of Europe that is isolated by the Russia army at the east and by barbed wire on the Prut at the west. The authorities’ disrespect for people’s interests has reached unimaginable heights, the party’s vice president Iulian Fruntasu said. Lawyer Vitalie Nagacevschi, president of the organization “Lawyers for Human Rights”, said that the notions of human rights and of Communist are incompatible. The protesters adopted a resolution, which says that the authorities’ refusal to sign a document that provides for the free movement in the border zone of the EU is an ill-intended act and a flagrant violation of the human rights. The refusal to sign the Convention revealed an obvious contradiction between the authoritarian character of the present government and the European values based on freedom, openness and tolerance, the resolution says. The rally participants called on the local authorities to immediately convene the councils for meetings to discuss the government’s refusal to sign the Convention and to demand that the Moldovan authorities sign it without delay.