Moldova

Moldova's Acting President Ghimpu: Get united around the truth

September 22, 2009

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Moldova's Acting President and Parliament Chairman Mihai Ghimpu has called to "get united around the truth".

In his interview with the Timpul [Time] newspaper of Chisinau published on Monday, he explained that for him, to be a unionist [i.e. to stand for Moldova's unification with Romania] means to stand for "unification around truth. If I am a unionist, then I am an enemy? Voronin is a communist, dictator and power usurper. He claims he is a patriot of this country, though I guess it's just a shame to be a head of state and defend Soviet lies and thus manipulate people... We know very well what happened in 1940, when the Soviet Union occupied this land and could not indeed claim it had liberated Romanians from Romanians. To somehow justify that occupation, the Soviets invented 'the Moldovan nation'", presumes Mihai Ghimpu.

Ghimpu stressed he had come into politics not for high posts, and does not care what people are saying about him.

"I stand up for truth and for my identity. I am not against Russian language or Russia. Good relations with Romania do not mean we must necessarily have bad relations with Russia. I stand for unification around truth. We must unite good and beautiful things - truth and justice. We all will win from this", stated Mihai Ghimpu.

Speaking of Moldova's possible unification with Romania, Ghimpu stressed that, firstly, he is the Chairman of the Liberal Party, whose program does not envisage unification with Romania.

"Secondly, the Liberal Party is an integral part of the ruling Alliance for European Integration, and we have signed an Alliance agreement and undertaken a program of country governance. I am a member of this team. Thirdly, the Republic of Moldova needs first and foremost to get rid of poverty, which is the gravest problem of all. Fourthly, we want Moldova to get integrated with the European Union, and this is possible to achieve only by being an independent state", he said.

Ghimpu stressed, "I am not a unionist with a stick in my hands, like is Voronin. I want my outlooks to be respected, like I respect the outlooks of those who think differently. The main direction of our external policy is European integration. Yes the Liberal Party Program reads that first must go European integration and then the CIS. But in the current situation, we all adhere by the Program of the Alliance for European Integration, not the LP Program. The Alliance unites 4 parties with different outlooks, but we have formed a governing coalition based on a consensus. Therefore, if the republic is a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States and if the membership is not a hindrance to our strivings for Europe, it is not so important to raise the question of quitting the CIS".

Ghimpu confessed he had never imagined he would become a Chairman-in-Office of the Commonwealth of Independent States one day, "but now I have assumed responsibility for chairing the forthcoming CIS Summit in Chisinau [due next month]. I want everyone to understand me correctly: my duty is to think of the country's interests, and to realize that you will be able to solve problems in the future only if you resolve problems existing now".

Touching on relations with Russia, Mihai Ghimpu said, "If Russia has recognized Moldova's independence, it must not impose its rules of the game on us, must pull out its troops, and observe our rules. The situation here depends not only on Russia's interests but also on the people governing the Republic of Moldova. I want Russia to observe our rules like we observe Russia's. We are different states - different in terms of population, size, natural wealth and military potential, but as concerns our rights - we are equal. The supporting of Transnistria with the purpose of influencing our future is a blunder of Russia's. But we shall build the kind of future we ourselves wish".

Infotag; Photo: Timpul

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