PARLIAMENTARY MAJORITY REPEATEDLY VOTE FOR DECLARING MAY 9 AS EUROPE DAY AND AMENDING AUDIOVISUAL CODE

On Thursday, the Moldovan Parliament repeatedly voted for declaring the date of May 9 as Europe Day in Moldova. Previously, Moldovan President Igor Dodon refused to promulgate this document.

Presenting the stance of the head of state, Presidential Legal Adviser Maxim Lebedinschi stated in the forum that for over 7 decades now, the peoples of Moldova have been celebrating May 9 as the Victory Day.

"Hundreds of thousand Moldova citizens have a direct relation to this great holiday: their fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers fought at Second World War battlefields. We should not institutionalize one more holiday for that very special date because this will bring nothing except a further split to the Moldovan society", said Lebedinschi.

The lawyer emphasized that the Europe Day is celebrated by European Union countries as a tribute to the foundation of the EU's predecessor - the European Coal and Steel Community [1951].

"But the Republic of Moldova has no relation to either the European Union or the said Community. In case of wish, we can indeed mark the Europe Day, only not on May 9 but on May 5, when most of European countries celebrate the Europe Day", said the Presidential Adviser.

However, 55 deputies out of 101 MPs repeatedly voted for adopting the Law on marking not only the Victory Day on May 9 but also the Europe Day.

Also on Thursday, the Moldovan Parliament repeatedly voted for approving amendments to the Audiovisual Code that were previously also rejected by President Dodon.

The Law on amending the Audiovisual Code was adopted by the Moldovan Parliament on December 7, 2017 and came into force only on February 12, 2018. According to it, Moldovan television channels and radio stations may retransmit news, information-analytical, political and military programs only from countries that have ratified the European Convention on Transfrontier Television as well as from the European Union member countries, the United States and Canada. The Moldovan opposition have no doubt that the Law is aimed primarily against the Russian media outlets and "Russian propaganda". This means that the local broadcasters must exclude from their casting grids all the news and political programs made by Russian television companies. Violation of these rules is punishable with fines of 40 to 70 thousand lei, and repeated violations - up to 100,000 lei and even with a possible revocation of broadcasting licenses.

According to the legislation in force, after a repeated voting by Parliament, the President MUST promulgate a law concerned. But if he refuses to, the Constitutional Court may (on the Parliament's or Government's request) suspend the President from his office for a short time, say, for 10-15 minutes, during which the promulgation decree will be signed by Parliament Speaker or Prime Minister on the President's behalf. Over a year, the DP-led Parliament and Government have resorted to this exotic procedure 4 times to promulgate disputable laws or appoint necessary ministers.