April 27, 2010

Mihai Ghimpu confirms he will not attend Moscow parade

Mihai Ghimpu confirms he will not attend Moscow parade
Moldova’s Acting President, Parliament Chairman Mihai Ghimpu has reaffirmed that his decision to not attend the Victory Anniversary Parade in Moscow on May 9 is “final and unchangeable… However, this does not mean I do not condemn fascism”.



Speaking on the ProTV-Chisinau channel on Monday night, Ghimpu reluctantly mentioned several reasons for which he does not want to be present at the Moscow’s Red Square on such day: “The thing is, the Soviet Army came onto the Moldovan territory yet before the war [namely in June 1940, whereas Hitler started war against the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941], and after the war it facilitated the establishment of a separatist regime in Tiraspol”.

In his words, his decision should not bring harm to the Moldo-Russian relations.

Ghimpu could not conceal his dissatisfaction with how Moscow has perceived the decision: “Russia has sent me an invitation for the parade, but is behaving as if it issued an order to me. Now that I have refused to accept the invitation, I am being compared with Hitler! I guess we need to demonstrate our human dignity, otherwise we will bend our heads and will come back to the Soviet occupation”.

The acting president offered an opinion that instead of him the Moscow parade may be attended by Prime Minister Vlad Filat or Deputy Premier, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Iurie Leanca.

Ghimpu voiced readiness to go to Moscow and attend a CIS Summit on May 8, if its agenda comprises economic issues because Moldova does not cooperate in the military sphere in the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Asked to comment the differences in the governing Alliance for European Integration concerning participation in the Moscow parade, Ghimpu replied that all this is an element of parliamentary election campaigning, “when all parties want to show off”.

Infotag’s dossier: Earlier this month, Andrei Klimov, Deputy Chairman of the Russian State Duma standing committee for international relations, compared Mihai Ghimpu with Adolph Hitler for his refusal to come for he Victory Anniversary Parade. Other AEI leaders, in particular Moldova Noastra Alliance Chairman Serafim Urechean, promised they would persuade Ghimpu into accepting Moscow’s invitation. At the same time, Prime Minister Vlad Filat yesterday refused to go to Moscow instead of the acting president.