ForMin Aurescu: The move made by Moldovan Parliament on Friday disregards Constitutional Court independence

The statement approved on Friday by the Chisinau Parliament, according to which the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Moldova would "usurp" state power, "shows contempt" for the independence of the Court, said the Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bogdan Aurescu, reports agerpres.

"On Friday, we witnessed an unfolding of events that is very worrying, because it was a move made in Parliament in contempt of the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova, an attempt to intimidate the Constitutional Court, to change the composition of the Constitutional Court by a vote annulling the appointment of the current president of the Constitutional Court, which appointment was made in 2019, through a totally unconstitutional "procedure," and also an attempt to give a vote of no confidence to three judges of the Constitutional Court," he told Antena 3 private television station.

He described the move as unconstitutional.

"We understand the very important stakes of such a move, but it is unconstitutional, it disregards the independence of the Constitutional Court which is enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova and has been condemned as such by the European Union, state embassies of the European Union, the US Embassy in Chisinau, and the Romanian Embassy, which I instructed to issue a statement," said the head of the Romanian diplomacy.

At the same time, he said that the approach adopted by the Chisinau Parliament shows the importance that should be given to the rule of law in the Republic of Moldova and "the importance of avoiding any decisions or steps that call into question the rule of law."

"I also noticed that the Venice Commission issued an opinion in this case, which is extremely clear in emphasizing that any kind of attack on the Constitutional Court, any kind of non-acceptance of the decisions of a Constitutional Court, including in this case, it is a violation of the rule of law," the Romanian Minister underscored.

He also said that Romania's ambassador to Chisinau, Daniel Ionita, had been "unjustly subjected to attacks recently."

"There is nothing true about what was said in these attacks, that Ambassador Ionita would not have been supported by Bucharest. On the contrary, I answer that he is an excellent diplomat, that he enjoys all my support and that "he was not called to Bucharest to be "scolded." On the contrary, I called him to attend the meetings that President Maia Sandu had last week," Bogdan Aurescu said.