Council of Europe to comtinue monitoring Moldova due to delayed reforms

The reform process in Moldova is advancing very slowly, therefore the Council of Europe will continue its monitoring of the republic, CoE Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland stated at the Winter Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe continuing in Strasbourg.    

This statement by Thorbjorn Jagland followed in response to the address made at the Session by Moldovan parliamentarian Grigore Petrenco, a Communist, who called upon the forum, on the European Lefts’ behalf, to pay serious attention to the continuing violation of many democratic principles in Moldova, in particular the unlawful closure of the oppositional NIT television channel, a ban slapped on the historic symbols of the opposition Communist Party – the Sickle and the Hammer, violation of human rights and freedoms, and other.         

The CoE Secretary General said that he had personally raised repeatedly some of these questions before the Moldovan leadership, and had insistently recommended to find a way out of the impasse by joint effort with the opposition.  

In his words, corruption is a serious-most threat to democracy for whole Europe.   

Concerning the future of the Council of Europe, Thorbjorn Jagland urged the forum to concentrate efforts on 4 priority directions:  corruption prevention and assistance to governments in carrying out judiciary reform; protection of the freedom of expression and mass media freedom; struggle against intolerance and misanthropy; promotion of diversity and protection of minorities.       

Adapted from Infotag