Moldovan premier meets co-rapporteurs for Moldova of Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe

Chisinau, 26 June /MOLDPRES/ - Prime Minister Pavel Filip, on a visit to Strasbourg, has had a meeting with the co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) for Moldova Valentina Leskaj  and Egidijus Vareikis, the government’s communication and protocol department has reported.   

The sides exchanged opinions on the follow-up process since the last monitoring visit to Moldova by PACE co-rapporteurs on 27-29 June 2016. The officials also tackled subjects on the justice reform, prosecution reform, fighting corruption and money laundering, prevention and combating the trafficking of human beings, promotion of anti-discrimination, ensuring the independence of the banking sector and mass media, including with the support of CoE projects.  

Another topic tackled at the meeting was focused on the draft on amendment of the electoral system. In this respect, the prime minister informed that the Venice Commission’s recommendations on this document were considered thoroughly  and would be taken into account to improve the draft.  

Also, the sides set expectations for the next visit due in 2017 and a calendar of presentation and adoption of the country report at PACE during 2018. According to the PM, a central goal in the cooperation with CoE remains the ending of the procedure of Moldova’s monitoring by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, with the priority included in the Moldovan government’s action programme and the action plan for 2016-2018.   

The officials agreed with the need to ensure continuous informing and the usefulness of the visits on the spot, in order to correctly assess the situation in Moldova, as well as to identify ways of backing the advancement of democratic reforms.   

The PASCE co-rapporteurs encouraged the authorities to press ahead with the reforms underway. They stressed that, following permanent monitoring of events from Moldova, the Council of Europe was recording an improvement of the situation in terms of democracy, rule of law state and respect for the human rights and expresses willingness to further provide Moldova with the necessary assistance.