{"id":443508,"date":"2017-02-26T22:16:54","date_gmt":"2017-02-26T22:16:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/?p=443508"},"modified":"2017-02-26T22:16:54","modified_gmt":"2017-02-26T22:16:54","slug":"moldova-weekly-news-digest-26-february-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/moldova-weekly-news-digest-26-february-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"Moldova Weekly News Digest, 26 February 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading Time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 7<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><p>&#8211;\u00a0On February 21st, Moldova\u2019s\u00a0President Igor Dodon, Parliament speaker Andrian Candu and Prime-Minister Pavel Filip <a href=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/president-parliament-speaker-prime-minister-moldova-met-show-disagreements\/\" target=\"_blank\">met at the Presidential residency<\/a> to discuss relevant issues in a trilateral format.<\/p>\n<p>The three officials again totally disagreed on issues of social-economic importance like the payment of the state obligations to the National Bank, the pension\u00a0system reform and the opening of the NATO liaison office.\u00a0To sum it up, Dodon wanted to <em>show<\/em>\u00a0<em>his teeth<\/em> with his apparently strong opposition against almost everything, while Candu and Filip seemed to fail convincing the continuation of the European agenda and reforms.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0The President of Moldova, Igor Dodon, rejected three candidate Ambassadors\u00a0and approved six out of nine proposed by PM Pavel Filip.<\/p>\n<p>The rejected candidates are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Vladimir Ciobanu, candidate Ambassador in Belarus (former Secretary General of the Democratic Party);<\/li>\n<li>Valeria \u0218eican, candidate Ambassador in Austria (current head of the Opera and Ballet Theater of Moldova);<\/li>\n<li>Igor Klipii, candidate Ambassador in the United Kingdom (former Vice-President of the Democratic Party).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>\u201cIn order to avoid the blocking of the external diplomatic activity of the Republic of Moldova, taking in account the constitutional competences in what regards the subject of appointing withdrawing the Ambassadors, I propose to have additional consultations\u201d<\/em>, reads the letter signed by Dodon for Filip. Read here who are the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/president-igor-dodon-approves-six-ambassadors-rejects-three-candidates\/\" target=\"_blank\">newly appointed Ambassadors<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0On February 24th, the President of Moldova, Igor Dodon, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/president-dodon-tells-imf-mission-doesnt-agree-pension-system-reform-limiting-farmer-subsidies-one-billion-law\/\" target=\"_blank\">had a meeting<\/a> with the International Monetary Fund mission led by Ben Kelmanson.<\/p>\n<p>According to the press-release of the Presidency, Dodon and the IMF mission had different opinions on some conditions of the Memorandum signed between Moldova and the IMF signed in November 2016 and its effect on Moldova\u2019s population. The President opted for cooperation,\u00a0<em>but only if the cooperation is in the interest of the Republic of Moldova and its citizens<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/02\/20170224-018-696x389.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Dodon reportedly told IMF that he does not agree with the points regarding the reform of the pension system, tariffs\u2019 increase and limiting the the agricultural subsidies. Moreover, he reiterated that he is categorically against the law on the payment of \u201cone billion\u201d, resulted from the grand banking theft from 2014.\u00a0Probably for the first time, President Dodon specified to\u00a0IMF that we would block the upcoming amnesty law, described as \u201ccapital liberalization and fiscal stimulation law\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0On February 22nd, the Moldovan President Igor Dodon <a href=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/igor-dodon-visit-russia-march-moldo-russian-economic-forum\/\" target=\"_blank\">announced<\/a> about the intention to participate at a Moldo-Russian Economic Forum in the second half of March 2017. The Forum would be organized by the Association of Entrepreneurs of Russia \u201cDelovaya Rossyia\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>According to Dodon, the Association gathers entrepreneurs from 77 regions of the Russian Federation, 30 committees and 86 branches in different economic spheres.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0On February 20th, the Moldovan President Igor Dodon <a href=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/president-igor-dodon-organize-conference-statehood-moldova\/\" target=\"_blank\">announced<\/a> that he would organize a scientific conference in Chi\u0219in\u0103u on the topic \u201cThe statehood of Moldova: historical continuity and development perspectives\u201d. The conference will reportedly take place during 24-25 March and will gather around 100 experts from 11 states.<\/p>\n<p>According to Dodon, the topics to be discussed are: historical approach towards the continuity of the Moldovan state, social-economic development of Moldova in different historical periods, the theory of state genesis, the law from the perspectives of the countries represented at the conference and others.<\/p>\n<p>Dodon is known for his policy of over-promoting Moldovan identity and statehood in contrast to the Romanian identity of most of Moldovans.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0On February 23rd, the Prime-Minister of Moldova, Pavel Filip, had a phone conversation with the Secretary General of the North-Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Jens Stoltenberg.<\/p>\n<p>The two officials <a href=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/nato-liaison-office-launched-june-2017-moldova\/\" target=\"_blank\">reportedly discussed<\/a> about the measures needed to open the NATO Liaison Office in Chi\u0219in\u0103u, but also the accreditation procedures for the staff. Secretary Stoltenberg told Filip that in March the accreditation of the head of mission and staff will be conducted, while the official opening will be held in June 2017.<\/p>\n<p>Filip invited the NATO Secretary to have a visit to Moldova.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/transnistria-celebrate-2nd-march-day-rejecting-aggression-moldova-12-june-day-russia\/\" target=\"_blank\">Transnistria will celebrate 2 March as Day of Rejecting the Aggression from Moldova, 12 June- Day of Russia<\/a><\/p>\n<p>On February 18th, the leader of the breakaway Transnistria, Vadim Krasnoselsky, signed the decree on introducing two important holidays\/commemoration days.<\/p>\n<p>Thus, March 2nd will be marked\u00a0as a the <em>\u201cDay of the beginning of the large-scale aggression of Moldova against the Pridnestrovian Moldovan Republic\u201d,\u00a0<\/em>while June 12th will be celebrated as Day of Russia.<\/p>\n<p>The date of March 2nd 1992 is the official beginning of the armed conflict between the constitutional authorities of the Republic of Moldova and the separatist militias, backed up by former 14th Army of Soviet Union, from the left bank of Nistru. On that day, shootings started around Cocieri village.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0On February 22nd, the Government of Moldova <a href=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/government-refuses-open-voting-centers-proportionally-number-moldovans-living-abroad\/\" target=\"_blank\">refused<\/a> to approve the law initiative of some deputies to open a number of voting centers outside the country\u00a0proportionally to the specific number of Moldovans living in those countries for several reasons.<\/p>\n<p>According to the negative note signed by Deputy Foreign Minister Daniela Morari, a proportional number of voting centers is difficult to calculate because the number of Moldovan voters is difficult to determine in a specific country. The Minister welcomes the initiative, but thinks that it would not solve the problem of guaranteeing the voting right to the Moldovan citizens.<\/p>\n<p>The number of voting centers outside Moldova will still be decided by the Central Electoral Commission together with the Foreign Ministry by taking in account the preliminary registration of voters and the turnout at the previous elections.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0On February 22nd, deputy Chiril Lucinschi <a href=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/chiril-lucinschi-leaves-moldova-parliament-liberal-democratic-party-announces-changes-tv7\/\" target=\"_blank\">declared<\/a> that he withdraws from the Parliament of Moldova and the Liberal-Democratic Party. The statement was made by Lucinschi at the briefing together with the Liberal-Democratic caucus leader Tudor Deliu.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/02\/m-225-696x381-696x381.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Moreover, Lucinschi added\u00a0that he would change the structure\u00a0the TV channel managed by him, his son Petru and daughter Alexandra, TV7, by giving 75% of the shares to a new association of journalists. The plan of restructuring TV7 was, according to him, agreed at the meeting of the European Endowment for Democracy, on February 8th. He says that, despite keeping 25% of the shares, he does not want to damage the image of the\u00a0TV channel.<\/p>\n<p>Chiril Lucinschi, son of the second President of the independent Moldova Petru Lucinschi, has been a Liberal-Democrat deputy since December 2010. Liberal-Democrat Alexandru Barb\u0103ro\u0219ie would get the seat of Lucinschi in the Moldovan Parliament.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Another Liberal-Democrat, Simion Gri\u0219ciuc <a href=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/deputy-simion-grisciuc-leaves-liberal-democratic-caucus-moldovan-parliament\/\" target=\"_blank\">announced<\/a>, three days later, about his withdrawal from the Liberal-Democratic Party (PLDM) caucus of the Parliament of Moldova. Gri\u0219ciuc was criticized by his former party fellows for being opportunistic and seeking to join the Democratic caucus.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/supreme-court-rules-moldova-ex-pm-vlad-filat-stays-prison-lawyers-count-echr\/\" target=\"_blank\">Supreme Court ruled that Moldova ex-PM Vlad Filat stays in prison, lawyers count on the ECHR<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>On February 22nd, a team of judges from the Supreme Court of Justice of Moldova rejected the request to reexamine the case of the ex Prime-Minister Vlad Filat. The judges think the \u201crequests are obviously unfounded\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Because Supreme Court\u2019s decision is immune to any challenging, the lawyers declared they would fill a complaint in the name of Filat to the European Court of Human Rights. They describe the decision of the Supreme Court to be\u00a0<em>illegal\u00a0<\/em>and <em>inequitable.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0On February 20th, journalist and editor Val Butnaru announced on his Facebook page that the TV channel Jurnal TV will come back with a new program on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/jurnal-tv-moldova-restart-march-5th\/\" target=\"_blank\">March 5th<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/major-moldovan-channel-jurnal-tv-reduce-program-due-rent-pressure-unequal-fight-oligarchic-system\/\" target=\"_blank\">Jurnal TV interrupted its normal broadcasting on January 16th<\/a>, after the media outlet had a conflict with the owner of its office. The owner of the TV channel building, declared that it decided to end the rent contract after several attempts to recover the debt for the rent for previous months. Just recently, the leader of the Platform \u201cDignity and Truth\u201d Party, Andrei N\u0103stase, declared about the coming back of Jurnal TV, but with different funding persons and self-financing.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0Recently, Moldova\u2019s\u00a0Registry of unique tariffs for medical services <a href=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/price-increase-medical-services-gets-attention-moldova-ombudsman-socialists-submit-censure-motion\/\" target=\"_blank\">was modified<\/a>, thus increasing the prices, sometimes by two, three or even five times. The event made the Ombudsman of Moldova, Mihail Cotorobai, to start an investigation on\u00a0the justification of the increased prices, taking in account the types of services and the price\/income ratio.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/m-231-696x372.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>On February 23rd, the Party of Socialists organized a protest against the price changes in front of the building of Healthcare Ministry.\u00a0On February 24th, the Socialist deputies submitted a censure motion against the Minister of Healthcare, Ruxanda Glavan. The no-confidence voting would be cast on March 2nd.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0On February 24th, the Parliament of Moldova <a href=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/moldova-parliament-approves-easing-residence-status-foreign-investors-specialists\/\" target=\"_blank\">approved<\/a> the simplification of offering residence status to investors in the IT domain. The draft law, authored by speaker Andrian Candu and voted in the first lecture, would allow the IT investors and specialists to get an easier residence without getting a residence permit in Moldova.<\/p>\n<p>The law would allow the heads of IT firms to stay for up to 6 months out of 12, IT investors- 3 months, IT specialists- 6 months. The special status will be offered after an evaluation of a special commission.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0On February 22nd, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) <a href=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/usaid-launched-21-million-usd-project-high-value-agriculture-moldova\/\" target=\"_blank\">launched<\/a> a new project \u201cHigh Value Agriculture in Moldova\u201d with a total value of 21 million US dollars.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/02\/foto-_j0a0953-696x464.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The 5 years project assist the agricultural producers in selling and exports high value products, adopting advanced producing and processing technologies and improving the services offered by agricultural associations.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/meaning-off-beaten-path-156-thousand-official-tourists-visited-moldova-2016\/\" target=\"_blank\">Meaning of \u201coff the beaten path\u201d: Only 15,6 thousand official tourists visited Moldova in 2016<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>On February 21st, the National Bureau of Statistics of Moldova published\u00a0new data regarding tourism in Moldova in 2016.<\/p>\n<p>The data show that the tourism agencies of Moldova offered services to 234,2 thousand tourists in 2016, 3,4% less than in 2015. Despite a 6,6% decrease in the emitting tourism, there was an increase in internal tourism- 10,8% (41,3 thousand people), and the receiving tourism- 1%.<\/p>\n<p>15668 (1% more than in 2015) official foreign citizens visited Moldova in 2016 as official tourists for a total 46920 days (5,5% more than in 2015), mostly for vacations (73,1%) and business affairs (19,5%). In terms of nationality, most of the tourists were from Romania (22,7%), the Russian Federation\u00a0(11,9%), Germany (10,6%), Ukraine (10,0%), the United States of America\u00a0(4,9%), Poland (3,7%), Israel (3,5%), Italy (3,0%), Turkey (2,9%), Japan (2,8%), the United Kingdom\u00a0(2,4%), the Netherlands\u00a0(2,3%), France (1,9%), \u00a0Denmark (1,6%) and Bulgaria\u00a0(1,4%).<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0SunStroke Project <a href=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/sunstroke-project-represent-moldova-eurovision-2017-hey-mamma-song\/\" target=\"_blank\">will represent<\/a> the Republic of Moldova at the 62nd Eurovision Song Contest (2017) in Kyiv, Ukraine. The guys from SunStroke Project will sing \u201cHey Mamma\u201d song about, mothers-in-law.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHey, Mamma\u201d was chosen the best by the audience and the national jury at the final national contest on February 25th.<\/p>\n<p><iframe width=\"740\" height=\"416\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/b7S0vA6CEII?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>SunStroke Project represented Moldova in 2010 with \u201cRun Away\u201d song, getting on the 10th place in the final stage and becoming famous with its \u201cEpic Sax Guy\u201d.<\/p>\n<p><iframe width=\"740\" height=\"416\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ECyeUYsU14E?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading Time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 7<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span>&#8211;\u00a0On February 21st, Moldova\u2019s\u00a0President Igor Dodon, Parliament speaker Andrian Candu and Prime-Minister Pavel Filip met at the Presidential residency to discuss relevant issues in a trilateral format. The three officials again totally disagreed on issues of social-economic importance like the payment of the state obligations to the National Bank, the pension\u00a0system reform and the opening [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":443479,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-443508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-important-en"],"content_social_share":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading Time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 7<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><p>&#8211;\u00a0On February 21st, Moldova\u2019s\u00a0President Igor Dodon, Parliament speaker Andrian Candu and Prime-Minister Pavel Filip <a href=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/president-parliament-speaker-prime-minister-moldova-met-show-disagreements\/\" target=\"_blank\">met at the Presidential residency<\/a> to discuss relevant issues in a trilateral format.<\/p>\n<p>The three officials again totally disagreed on issues of social-economic importance like the payment of the state obligations to the National Bank, the pension\u00a0system reform and the opening of the NATO liaison office.\u00a0To sum it up, Dodon wanted to <em>show<\/em>\u00a0<em>his teeth<\/em> with his apparently strong opposition against almost everything, while Candu and Filip seemed to fail convincing the continuation of the European agenda and reforms.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0The President of Moldova, Igor Dodon, rejected three candidate Ambassadors\u00a0and approved six out of nine proposed by PM Pavel Filip.<\/p>\n<p>The rejected candidates are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Vladimir Ciobanu, candidate Ambassador in Belarus (former Secretary General of the Democratic Party);<\/li>\n<li>Valeria \u0218eican, candidate Ambassador in Austria (current head of the Opera and Ballet Theater of Moldova);<\/li>\n<li>Igor Klipii, candidate Ambassador in the United Kingdom (former Vice-President of the Democratic Party).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>\u201cIn order to avoid the blocking of the external diplomatic activity of the Republic of Moldova, taking in account the constitutional competences in what regards the subject of appointing withdrawing the Ambassadors, I propose to have additional consultations\u201d<\/em>, reads the letter signed by Dodon for Filip. Read here who are the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/president-igor-dodon-approves-six-ambassadors-rejects-three-candidates\/\" target=\"_blank\">newly appointed Ambassadors<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0On February 24th, the President of Moldova, Igor Dodon, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/president-dodon-tells-imf-mission-doesnt-agree-pension-system-reform-limiting-farmer-subsidies-one-billion-law\/\" target=\"_blank\">had a meeting<\/a> with the International Monetary Fund mission led by Ben Kelmanson.<\/p>\n<p>According to the press-release of the Presidency, Dodon and the IMF mission had different opinions on some conditions of the Memorandum signed between Moldova and the IMF signed in November 2016 and its effect on Moldova\u2019s population. The President opted for cooperation,\u00a0<em>but only if the cooperation is in the interest of the Republic of Moldova and its citizens<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/02\/20170224-018-696x389.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Dodon reportedly told IMF that he does not agree with the points regarding the reform of the pension system, tariffs\u2019 increase and limiting the the agricultural subsidies. Moreover, he reiterated that he is categorically against the law on the payment of \u201cone billion\u201d, resulted from the grand banking theft from 2014.\u00a0Probably for the first time, President Dodon specified to\u00a0IMF that we would block the upcoming amnesty law, described as \u201ccapital liberalization and fiscal stimulation law\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0On February 22nd, the Moldovan President Igor Dodon <a href=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/igor-dodon-visit-russia-march-moldo-russian-economic-forum\/\" target=\"_blank\">announced<\/a> about the intention to participate at a Moldo-Russian Economic Forum in the second half of March 2017. The Forum would be organized by the Association of Entrepreneurs of Russia \u201cDelovaya Rossyia\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>According to Dodon, the Association gathers entrepreneurs from 77 regions of the Russian Federation, 30 committees and 86 branches in different economic spheres.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0On February 20th, the Moldovan President Igor Dodon <a href=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/president-igor-dodon-organize-conference-statehood-moldova\/\" target=\"_blank\">announced<\/a> that he would organize a scientific conference in Chi\u0219in\u0103u on the topic \u201cThe statehood of Moldova: historical continuity and development perspectives\u201d. The conference will reportedly take place during 24-25 March and will gather around 100 experts from 11 states.<\/p>\n<p>According to Dodon, the topics to be discussed are: historical approach towards the continuity of the Moldovan state, social-economic development of Moldova in different historical periods, the theory of state genesis, the law from the perspectives of the countries represented at the conference and others.<\/p>\n<p>Dodon is known for his policy of over-promoting Moldovan identity and statehood in contrast to the Romanian identity of most of Moldovans.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0On February 23rd, the Prime-Minister of Moldova, Pavel Filip, had a phone conversation with the Secretary General of the North-Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Jens Stoltenberg.<\/p>\n<p>The two officials <a href=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/nato-liaison-office-launched-june-2017-moldova\/\" target=\"_blank\">reportedly discussed<\/a> about the measures needed to open the NATO Liaison Office in Chi\u0219in\u0103u, but also the accreditation procedures for the staff. Secretary Stoltenberg told Filip that in March the accreditation of the head of mission and staff will be conducted, while the official opening will be held in June 2017.<\/p>\n<p>Filip invited the NATO Secretary to have a visit to Moldova.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/transnistria-celebrate-2nd-march-day-rejecting-aggression-moldova-12-june-day-russia\/\" target=\"_blank\">Transnistria will celebrate 2 March as Day of Rejecting the Aggression from Moldova, 12 June- Day of Russia<\/a><\/p>\n<p>On February 18th, the leader of the breakaway Transnistria, Vadim Krasnoselsky, signed the decree on introducing two important holidays\/commemoration days.<\/p>\n<p>Thus, March 2nd will be marked\u00a0as a the <em>\u201cDay of the beginning of the large-scale aggression of Moldova against the Pridnestrovian Moldovan Republic\u201d,\u00a0<\/em>while June 12th will be celebrated as Day of Russia.<\/p>\n<p>The date of March 2nd 1992 is the official beginning of the armed conflict between the constitutional authorities of the Republic of Moldova and the separatist militias, backed up by former 14th Army of Soviet Union, from the left bank of Nistru. On that day, shootings started around Cocieri village.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0On February 22nd, the Government of Moldova <a href=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/government-refuses-open-voting-centers-proportionally-number-moldovans-living-abroad\/\" target=\"_blank\">refused<\/a> to approve the law initiative of some deputies to open a number of voting centers outside the country\u00a0proportionally to the specific number of Moldovans living in those countries for several reasons.<\/p>\n<p>According to the negative note signed by Deputy Foreign Minister Daniela Morari, a proportional number of voting centers is difficult to calculate because the number of Moldovan voters is difficult to determine in a specific country. The Minister welcomes the initiative, but thinks that it would not solve the problem of guaranteeing the voting right to the Moldovan citizens.<\/p>\n<p>The number of voting centers outside Moldova will still be decided by the Central Electoral Commission together with the Foreign Ministry by taking in account the preliminary registration of voters and the turnout at the previous elections.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0On February 22nd, deputy Chiril Lucinschi <a href=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/chiril-lucinschi-leaves-moldova-parliament-liberal-democratic-party-announces-changes-tv7\/\" target=\"_blank\">declared<\/a> that he withdraws from the Parliament of Moldova and the Liberal-Democratic Party. The statement was made by Lucinschi at the briefing together with the Liberal-Democratic caucus leader Tudor Deliu.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/02\/m-225-696x381-696x381.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Moreover, Lucinschi added\u00a0that he would change the structure\u00a0the TV channel managed by him, his son Petru and daughter Alexandra, TV7, by giving 75% of the shares to a new association of journalists. The plan of restructuring TV7 was, according to him, agreed at the meeting of the European Endowment for Democracy, on February 8th. He says that, despite keeping 25% of the shares, he does not want to damage the image of the\u00a0TV channel.<\/p>\n<p>Chiril Lucinschi, son of the second President of the independent Moldova Petru Lucinschi, has been a Liberal-Democrat deputy since December 2010. Liberal-Democrat Alexandru Barb\u0103ro\u0219ie would get the seat of Lucinschi in the Moldovan Parliament.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Another Liberal-Democrat, Simion Gri\u0219ciuc <a href=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/deputy-simion-grisciuc-leaves-liberal-democratic-caucus-moldovan-parliament\/\" target=\"_blank\">announced<\/a>, three days later, about his withdrawal from the Liberal-Democratic Party (PLDM) caucus of the Parliament of Moldova. Gri\u0219ciuc was criticized by his former party fellows for being opportunistic and seeking to join the Democratic caucus.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/supreme-court-rules-moldova-ex-pm-vlad-filat-stays-prison-lawyers-count-echr\/\" target=\"_blank\">Supreme Court ruled that Moldova ex-PM Vlad Filat stays in prison, lawyers count on the ECHR<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>On February 22nd, a team of judges from the Supreme Court of Justice of Moldova rejected the request to reexamine the case of the ex Prime-Minister Vlad Filat. The judges think the \u201crequests are obviously unfounded\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Because Supreme Court\u2019s decision is immune to any challenging, the lawyers declared they would fill a complaint in the name of Filat to the European Court of Human Rights. They describe the decision of the Supreme Court to be\u00a0<em>illegal\u00a0<\/em>and <em>inequitable.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0On February 20th, journalist and editor Val Butnaru announced on his Facebook page that the TV channel Jurnal TV will come back with a new program on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/jurnal-tv-moldova-restart-march-5th\/\" target=\"_blank\">March 5th<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/major-moldovan-channel-jurnal-tv-reduce-program-due-rent-pressure-unequal-fight-oligarchic-system\/\" target=\"_blank\">Jurnal TV interrupted its normal broadcasting on January 16th<\/a>, after the media outlet had a conflict with the owner of its office. The owner of the TV channel building, declared that it decided to end the rent contract after several attempts to recover the debt for the rent for previous months. Just recently, the leader of the Platform \u201cDignity and Truth\u201d Party, Andrei N\u0103stase, declared about the coming back of Jurnal TV, but with different funding persons and self-financing.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0Recently, Moldova\u2019s\u00a0Registry of unique tariffs for medical services <a href=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/price-increase-medical-services-gets-attention-moldova-ombudsman-socialists-submit-censure-motion\/\" target=\"_blank\">was modified<\/a>, thus increasing the prices, sometimes by two, three or even five times. The event made the Ombudsman of Moldova, Mihail Cotorobai, to start an investigation on\u00a0the justification of the increased prices, taking in account the types of services and the price\/income ratio.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/m-231-696x372.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>On February 23rd, the Party of Socialists organized a protest against the price changes in front of the building of Healthcare Ministry.\u00a0On February 24th, the Socialist deputies submitted a censure motion against the Minister of Healthcare, Ruxanda Glavan. The no-confidence voting would be cast on March 2nd.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0On February 24th, the Parliament of Moldova <a href=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/moldova-parliament-approves-easing-residence-status-foreign-investors-specialists\/\" target=\"_blank\">approved<\/a> the simplification of offering residence status to investors in the IT domain. The draft law, authored by speaker Andrian Candu and voted in the first lecture, would allow the IT investors and specialists to get an easier residence without getting a residence permit in Moldova.<\/p>\n<p>The law would allow the heads of IT firms to stay for up to 6 months out of 12, IT investors- 3 months, IT specialists- 6 months. The special status will be offered after an evaluation of a special commission.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0On February 22nd, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) <a href=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/usaid-launched-21-million-usd-project-high-value-agriculture-moldova\/\" target=\"_blank\">launched<\/a> a new project \u201cHigh Value Agriculture in Moldova\u201d with a total value of 21 million US dollars.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/02\/foto-_j0a0953-696x464.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The 5 years project assist the agricultural producers in selling and exports high value products, adopting advanced producing and processing technologies and improving the services offered by agricultural associations.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/meaning-off-beaten-path-156-thousand-official-tourists-visited-moldova-2016\/\" target=\"_blank\">Meaning of \u201coff the beaten path\u201d: Only 15,6 thousand official tourists visited Moldova in 2016<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>On February 21st, the National Bureau of Statistics of Moldova published\u00a0new data regarding tourism in Moldova in 2016.<\/p>\n<p>The data show that the tourism agencies of Moldova offered services to 234,2 thousand tourists in 2016, 3,4% less than in 2015. Despite a 6,6% decrease in the emitting tourism, there was an increase in internal tourism- 10,8% (41,3 thousand people), and the receiving tourism- 1%.<\/p>\n<p>15668 (1% more than in 2015) official foreign citizens visited Moldova in 2016 as official tourists for a total 46920 days (5,5% more than in 2015), mostly for vacations (73,1%) and business affairs (19,5%). In terms of nationality, most of the tourists were from Romania (22,7%), the Russian Federation\u00a0(11,9%), Germany (10,6%), Ukraine (10,0%), the United States of America\u00a0(4,9%), Poland (3,7%), Israel (3,5%), Italy (3,0%), Turkey (2,9%), Japan (2,8%), the United Kingdom\u00a0(2,4%), the Netherlands\u00a0(2,3%), France (1,9%), \u00a0Denmark (1,6%) and Bulgaria\u00a0(1,4%).<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;\u00a0SunStroke Project <a href=\"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/sunstroke-project-represent-moldova-eurovision-2017-hey-mamma-song\/\" target=\"_blank\">will represent<\/a> the Republic of Moldova at the 62nd Eurovision Song Contest (2017) in Kyiv, Ukraine. The guys from SunStroke Project will sing \u201cHey Mamma\u201d song about, mothers-in-law.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHey, Mamma\u201d was chosen the best by the audience and the national jury at the final national contest on February 25th.<\/p>\n<p><iframe width=\"740\" height=\"416\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/b7S0vA6CEII?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>SunStroke Project represented Moldova in 2010 with \u201cRun Away\u201d song, getting on the 10th place in the final stage and becoming famous with its \u201cEpic Sax Guy\u201d.<\/p>\n<p><iframe width=\"740\" height=\"416\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ECyeUYsU14E?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class='heateorSssClear'><\/div><div  class='heateor_sss_sharing_container heateor_sss_horizontal_sharing' data-heateor-sss-href='https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/moldova-weekly-news-digest-26-february-2017\/' data-heateor-sss-no-counts=\"1\"><div 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