madam president moldova remains one of the poorest countries in europe with a fragile democracy led by president voronin who is an unreconstructed homo sovieticus who still proudly calls himself a communist and who sadly is ambivalent towards the eu even in terms of the eastern partnership
nevertheless he remains popular particularly in the rural areas and among the older generation nostalgic for the security of the ussr in these uncertain economic times
the osce troika which included our own ep delegation basically endorsed his victory so we just have to accept this fact even though we must strongly protest the repressive crackdown against the opposition demonstrators who accused the government of monopolising the media during the campaign using an outdated and unreliable electoral register including many people who are supposed to be dead and the disenfranchisement of the large diaspora abroad who were not able to vote
right now we must concentrate on the human rights violations which must be fully investigated by a mission of the european union if moldova wants to continue to receive our support in its eu atlantic aspirations
