23 August declared by Moldovan government day of mourning on commemoration of victims of all totalitarian, authoritarian regimes

Chisinau, 21 August /MOLDPRES/ – Prime Minister, Maia Sandu, has described the visit of Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu to Chisinau on 24 August as a private, unofficial one. Thus, during the visit, it can not be signed any formal agreements or understandings. The visit was qualified as a private one because of the lack of notification of Executive by the Ministry of Defence and the failure to take the necessary steps, the government's communication and protocol department has reported.

“As you have not taken all the legal steps, this visit cannot be an official one. As a result, the Government is not involved in this visit and there can not be signed any official agreements or understandings. Like any foreign citizen, Mr. Shoygu can visit Moldova as a private person. In the future, if you want to invite guests in Moldova, as official ones, these invitations must be made according to the law. The Government must be notified in writing in advance, to take all the procedural steps so that the involvement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and our embassies can be ensured in the proper way in establishing the agenda and in ensuring the protocol in such visits. The way of following these steps gives the official character of a visit. Failure to follow these procedures makes the visit of Mr. Shoygu an unofficial one.”, said PM Maia Sandu in her address to Defence Minister, Pavel Voicu. Also, Maia Sandu has asked the Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, Nicu Popescu, to call the Moldovan ambassador to Moscow for consultations to clarify the situation.

At the same time, at the Cabinet meeting, PM Maia Sandu has presented the draft Government decision on efficiency of anticorruption activities. The project proposes the creation of the Council for coordination of anticorruption policies and justice reform with PM and Anticorruption Policy Advisory Bureau. “I have repeatedly said that the fight against corruption is a priority for this Government. I know that lately the confidence of citizens that justice can be reformed has been shaken. But we must understand that the corrupt system that was built by the old regime is rotten and opposes its responsibilities not to be cleansed. Even if we want these things to happen very quickly, we must be realistic and understand that these reforms are complicated and lasting. We are not stopped by these delays and this lack of cooperation from the system to clean up the justice system. The Government does not have direct powers to fight corruption, but the Government is responsible to the citizens for improving their lives. And the life of the citizens can only be improved when all the corruption schemes stop.”, said Maia Sandu.

The representatives, managers of institutions responsible for fighting corruption will meet within Council. The anticorruption bureau will be made up of national and international consultants which will monitor how justice reform activities are conducted, prepare new policies so as to assist the Government in monitoring the commitment to fight corruption.

The Executive has also declared 23 August as the European Day of Remembrance of the victims of all totalitarian and authoritarian regimes, such as Nazism, Stalinism, Fascist and Communist regimes. “By instituting such a day, we strongly and unequivocally condemn all crimes against humanity and serious human rights violations committed by all totalitarian and authoritarian regimes. From the perspective of victims, it does not matter which regime deprived them of freedom, tortured or killed them or what was the reason, and one day of memory of all the victims would come to unite the society around the compassion, understanding and acknowledgment of the suffering of all victims and members of their families and ensure that those which actively opposed these regimes and fought against tyranny and oppression will not be forgotten.” said Maia Sandu.

In the context, the Government has declared the day of 23 August a day of mourning, with the hoisting of the state flag at half mast. On that day, at 10:00, the Government and public authorities will keep a moment of silence in the memory of all the victims. Also, Maia Sandu has urged the press institutions to support the initiative and at 20:00, when most citizens watch the television programmes – to keep a moment of silence in the memory of the ones killed, deported, starved or tortured.