XVIth EPP CONGRESS The EPP: Your Majority in Europe 4 - 5 February 2004 European Parliament BRUSSELS

Resolution adopted by the XVIth EPP Congress
Human Rights in Moldova


The EPP Congress ascertains that since the Communist Party came to power after the parliamentary elections of February 2001, Vladimir Voronin, the leader of this party and also the president of the country, has established a totalitarian regime.

The democratic institutions have been suppressed through the modification of the legislation and the exertion of power by the government in abusive manners. The political strategy in a soviet style imposed by the former communists, has lead to the flagrant infringement of the country's international commitments and people's fundamental rights and liberties.

The frequent demonstrations of protest against the government organized by the main opposition force, the Christian Democratic People's Party (CDPP) chaired by Mr. Iurie Rosca, lead to strong reactions at the international level. Thus, in 2002 two resolutions concerning the functioning of the democratic institutions in Moldova, and two resolutions regarding the political situation and human rights, have been adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

The European institutions urged the communist authorities from Chisinau to comply with the international standards and norms in the matter of democracy and to implement the following reforms and changes in attitude:

to re-establish the independence of the judicial power;

to re-establish the local autonomy;

to transform the national television and radio stations in an unrestricted public institution of free audio-visual broadcast;

to respect the rights of assembly, free circulation, free association, and freedom of speech;

to stop the penal and administrative prosecution against the leaders of CDPP and their sympathizers;

to stop the ideological interferences in the process of education and the process of the russification of the society.

Unfortunately, all these recommendations of the European Council have been ignored by the current communist Government of Moldova.The Government has adopted a pro-western rhetoric and stated its strategic orientation towards the European integration; at the same time it continues to destroy the democratic legislation, prosecuting and persecuting the Opposition, communising the society.

The democracy and political pluralism have been annihilated, and the communist ideology has been established as an official ideology of the state.

While elected through democratic procedures, the Communist Party of Moldova has undermined the power of state. Any opinion different from the government policy that is expressed in public, is sanctioned.

The Police, the Prosecution and the Information and Security Service have been transformed into means of political repression. Hundreds of protesters against the CP have been sanctioned with penalties or are prosecuted. The Police makes raids at the homes of the most active opponents of the regime to intimidate them.

In these extremely dramatic circumstances for the Moldavian society, the European People's Party expresses its solidarity with its colleagues from the Christian Democratic People's Party in their fight for freedom, democracy and a European perspective of their country.They appeal to the representatives of EPP member parties to exert all their influence through the Council of Europe, the OSCE, the European Commission and the European Parliament in order to adopt a corresponding attitude towards the totalitarian regime of the president of Moldova Vladimir Voronin. If the communist authorities from Chisinau continue practicing the anti-democratic models and violate the international commitments of the country regarding the international rights and liberties, the country's membership in CE and OSCE may be jeopardized, andthe EU mayreconsider the Moldavian perspectives of integration.

The EPP Congress will demand the authorities of the RussianFederation to comply with their international commitments assumed in 1996 when this country was admitted in the Council of Europe, and during the OSCE assemblies in 1999 in Istanbul and in 2002 in Porto, regarding the absolute, immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the troops and their entire military arsenal from the territory of the Republic of Moldova.

The position expressed by the representatives of the UE at the OSCE Summit in Maastricht on December 1-2, 2003 restated the idea that only the cease of military occupation can determine the reestablishment of the territorial unity of the country, and to stop the separatism inspired by the neo-imperial circles from Moscow.

The Republic of Moldova is a European country and deserves the right to be free and prosperous as any other country in the world.