He stated on the Echo of Moscow radio that Moldova's refusal to sign the document cost the republic very much in terms of its relations with Russia, and influenced the economic situation in Moldova.
"We used to forget quite many important things, very serious things which hit the Moldo-Russian relations very heavily and for long. One of such examples is the year 2003, when the Moldovan side made a gross blunder in its negotiations with Russia", Lupu said.
He presumes it was necessary to further hold negotiations and sign the Kozak Memorandum, even though the document was going to convert Moldova from a unitarian state into a federation of Moldova, Transnistria and Gagauzia".
"But no, Chisinau then refused to, and that led to the consequences we all know. Whole sectors of national economy got ruined. Hundreds of thousand people lost jobs. Production and exports slumped dramatically. The consequences of such behaviour, the lack of political wisdom and professionalism with the then country leaders inflicted a damage to our bilateral relations incomparably greater than what may result from the present-day situation [namely Mihai Ghimpu's refusal to attend the May 9 Victory Anniversary Parade in Moscow]", said Marian Lupu.
"In such a situation, I would advise to both Moldova and Russia to never forget this recent past", Lupu said, and expressed hope that in the future Moldova will be making only very well-weighted, clever, intelligent steps, which he believes should promote the development and consolidation of Moldova's relations with Russia.
Infotag's dossier: In October 2003, when then-President Vladimir Voronin refused to sign the already initialed and agreed-on Kozak Memorandum 2-3 hours before then-President Vladimir Putin's arrival in Chisinau, Marian Lupu held the post of economy minister in the Communist Government. In 2005, Lupu was elected to parliament on the MCP ticket, and became Speaker of Parliament.
