Tsjechië verzoekt EU om onderzoek verkiezingen Moldavië (en) - Hoofdinhoud
EUOBSERVER/BRUSSELS – Czech premier Mirek Topolanek i on Wednesday called for an EU-led probe into the post-election violence in Moldova, while maintaining his invitation to Moldovan authorities for the Eastern Partnership in two weeks time in Prague.
"I have recommended establishing an investigation committee with representatives of the European Commission and the opposition," he said after separately meeting opposition leaders and the country's president Vladimir Voronin in Chisinau.
Following legislative elections which saw the governing Russia-backed Communist Party return to power, Moldova has seen street violence, followed by a brutal police crackdown, with journalists, opposition activists and random people arrested and beaten up. At least three people have died in arrest, opposition and family members claim.
Moldovan police deny harsh treatment on any of the roughly 300 persons officially detained, but foreign correspondents and human rights groups, as well as opposition leaders, have documented the abuses with pictures and interviews.
"All people who were interviewed by human rights defenders, including Amnesty International, are confirming that they were beaten, and they confirm that all the people they have seen in detention were beaten as well," the executive director of Amnesty International Moldova, Evghenii Golosceapov, told the BBC.
Mr Topolanek also met with opposition leaders, who handed him documents on what they claim to be hard facts about election fraud and police violence.
"The European Union is monitoring the situation in Moldova. I will pass these documents on to the Foreign Ministers of the EU member states who will meet as soon as next week to discuss the situation in your country", he said after the meeting.
MEPs, commission and EU presidency representatives are also set to debate the Moldovan situation today (23 April) in the European Parliament's plenum in Strasbourg.
Moldova and Belarus invited to summit
When speaking about the invitation to the Eastern Partnership, the Czech premier compared Mr Voronin to Europe's other controversial leader, Belarussian president Alexander Lukashenko, once dubbed "the last dictator of Europe" and also known for brutal police practices and arrests of opposition leaders.
"Like Belarus, the invitation for Moldova is not addressed to a particular political leader and it is up to their respective governments to choose their representative", he said.
Mr Topolanek also added after the meeting with opposition leaders that the Czech EU presidency was ready to encourage a pro-democratic development in Moldova within the Eastern Partnership project.
Opposition leaders and human rights groups have raised concerns over legitimising Mr Lukashenko and now Mr Voronin's anti-democratic behaviour by inviting them to the launch of EU's newest policy towards its eastern neighbourhood.
Czech president Vaclav Klaus i said he would not receive Mr Lukashenko at his presidential residence.
Speaking after his meeting with Mr Topolanek, president Voronin thanked him for the suggestions and said he was confident the EU could help resolve the situation.
"The most important thing now is to reach national accord and resolve this difficult situation together", he said.
"I don't believe almost anything I hear and only some 50 percent of what I see," Mr Topolanek said jokingly, according to Moldovan press agency Unimedia.