This is the first speech of the President of the Republic of Moldova in the State Duma in 27 years of independence of the Republic.
“The Russian Federation was, is and will be a strategic partner for the Republic of Moldova and no one will succeed in destroying the friendly, fraternal, cultural, economic ties that our peoples have built over the centuries,” said Igor Dodon, adding that “we are doing everything possible to preserve and develop this partnership.” He also noted the importance of deep historical and spiritual roots that have linked two nations throughout history.
Igor Dodon especially thanked President Vladimir Putin ”for supporting Moldova and its citizens.“
“At the level of presidents and regions, we are doing everything possible to correct what has not been done by the Parliament and the Government,” said the President of the Republic of Moldova.
“I want to thank you for the openness of the state bodies of the Russian Federation. We feel this dialogue and openness in discussing the issues that we put on the agenda. Special thanks to you for this openness,” he addressed the Chairman of the State Duma Viacheslav Volodin
Vyacheslav Victorovich
The Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the eighth convocation. Elected in single mandate constituency № 163 (Saratov constituency - Saratov Oblast)
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The President of the Republic of Moldova complained that today the inter-parliamentary cooperation of the two states is not at the desirable level but expressed the hope that after the upcoming parliamentary elections in Moldova in February 2019, the situation will change. The political forces that now present in the Parliament of the Republic, in his opinion, “artificially restrain the development of the existing potential.”
“Not everyone in Chișinău understood that it is impossible to make the national interests of the country dependent on false, momentary, ideological and narrow party interests,” he said.
“I want us to emphasize the need to intensify inter-parliamentary cooperation. The parliamentary friendship group with Russia created within the Parliament of Moldova under the leadership of Chairwoman of the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova Zinaida Greceanîi is the most numerous,” said Igor Dodon from the rostrum of the State Duma.
The President of the Republic of Moldova expressed confidence that the full restoration of the inter-parliamentary dialogue and the resumption of the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation ”will give a significant impetus to the development of relations between the two countries.“
“To give practical effect to relations between Moldova and Russia and strategic partnership, I propose and consider it necessary to sign a joint declaration on strategic partnership in the near future and create a joint committee at a high political level to comprehensively discuss strategic issues,” said the President of the Republic of Moldova.
In addition, Igor Dodon reminded that “almost the entire population of Moldova is more or less fluent in Russian” that is legally given the status of a language of interethnic communication, and he, as President, intends to continue to protect it.
He emphasized that Moldova intends to further strengthen and develop its constitutional status of permanent neutrality: “According to all polls, the majority of the population of the Republic is categorically against Moldova losing its neutrality and joining NATO”.
Another proposal put forward by Igor Dodon from the rostrum of the State Duma is to hold an international conference on strengthening security in the region in 2020: “In this regard, I propose and count on Russia's support to hold a high-level international conference on Moldova whose results would make a significant contribution to strengthening European security and would initiate the practical implementation of a global project to build a common space of stability and development.”
“I am convinced that the Russian Federation can become one of the key participants of this conference,” said Igor Dodon.
“I am against Moldova being turned into a gray “buffer zone”. We will not be friends with anyone either against Russia or against any other country or association of countries. This is the position of the President and the absolute majority of citizens of the Republic of Moldova,” the head of the Republic stated.
At the end of his speech, Igor Dodon expressed hope for the comprehensive development of mutual cooperation of both countries in all areas and reminded that President Vladimir Putin had already agreed that 2019 would be the year of the Republic of Moldova in Russia, and 2020 the year of Russia in the Republic of Moldova.
A bilateral meeting of the State Duma Viacheslav Volodin and the President of the Republic of Moldova Igor Dodon also took place today.
Earlier, at the plenary meetings of the State Duma of the 7th convocation, Speaker of the Lower House of the Parliament of India Sumitra Mahajan, Speaker of the National Council of the Slovak Republic Andrej Danko, President of the Republic of Korea Moon Jae-in, and Chairwoman of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia Maja Gojković gave their speeches.
