PES gives support to Moldovan Democratic Party during visit to Chisinau

The Party of European Socialists, together with the European Forum for Democracy and Solidarity, organised a Fact-finding Mission to Chisinau, Moldova, on 27 May 2010. The joint initiative was led by Peter Schieder, Chair of the PES Advisory Group on Eastern European Neighbours and former President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, SPÖ Austria, and by Marianne Mikko, former MEP and Co-Chair of the EU-Moldova Parliamentary Cooperation Committee, SDE, Estonia. They were welcomed by Democratic Party of Moldova leader, Marian Lupu.

Members of the delegation held bilateral meetings with government and EU officials, representatives of political parties, international organisations and independent political thinkers and analysts. The delegation also took part in the International Roundtable “Social Moldova – Common Europe”, organised on 28 May by the PES sister party Democratic Party of Moldova with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and the Alfred Mozer Stichting.

PES Co-chair Peter Schieder, addressed the roundtable guests and assembled media together with Mr. Lupu. He posed the question: “Why does the PES place such interest on Moldova? Why does the EU grant such priority and financial aid to this country? To answer that it is the case because the country needs it would be far too simple. Socialists and social democrats, the EU, focus on this country because they see a real chance for Moldova. It is now up to Moldova, its political forces and its people to be determined and to seize the opportunities the country has today.”

Background:

Moldova has seen some drastic political changes in the past year. The eight-year Communist rule ended with the so-called ‘twitter revolution’ and after the early elections of summer 2009, a new ruling coalition, the Alliance for European Integration (AEI), was established by the Democratic Party (DPM), the Liberal Party (LP), the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), and the Moldova Noastra Alliance (MNA). However, the coalition is eight parliamentary seats short of electing the next President. With ongoing negotiations on constitutional changes, referenda and early elections, the risk of a prolonged crisis is a matter of concern.

The joint PES and European Forum Delegation also included Titus Corlatean, Party Vice-president and President of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Romanian Senate, PSD Romania, Christoph Zöpel, Former Member of Parliament and Chairman of the Committee “Economic Policy, Labour and National Resources” of the Socialist International, SPD Germany, Ivan Catalin Sorin, Member of the European Parliament, PSD Romania, Miroslava Gateva, Political Adviser of the International Department, BSP Bulgaria, Mikhna Berindei, Adviser of the Foundation Jean Jaures, France, Marina Ohanjanyan and Inge Visscher, respectively Project Manager and Intern of the European Forum, and David Capezzuto, Political Advisor of the PES International Unit.

Source: PES. Published on 31 May 2010
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