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Moldovan parliament rejects call for referendum on Customs Union

The need for Moldova’s to join the Customs Union was earlier stressed by the leaders of the parliamentary parties

CHISINAU, September 27 (Itar-Tass) —— Now the party is ready to support a group of activists from the Social Democratic Party, which has collected more than the required 200,000 signatures in support of the referendum on Moldova’s accession to the Customs Union created by Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

They turned to the communists for support after the Central Election Commission had refused to consider the issue on account that the majority of the collected signatures were false.

“We say our firm and definite yes to this initiative,” the communists said.

They pledged to submit this issue to the parliament’s agenda within days.

“Moldova’s participation in the Customs Union will allow us to get less expensive energy resources and a broad market. We intend to hold a referendum on November 18 so that the country could join the Customs Union from January 1,” Social Democratic Party leader Sergiu Coropceanu said earlier.

The need for Moldova’s to join the Customs Union was earlier stressed by the leaders of the parliamentary parties: former President and Communist leader Vladimir Voronin and Socialist Party leader Igor Dodon.

According the latest public opinion polls, the number of people who support Moldova’s accession to the Eurasian Union is growing.

At the same time, the number of those who are sceptical about Moldova’s membership in the European Union and NATO is increasing.

A survey conducted by the Association of Sociologists and Demographers in January 2012 showed that about 40 percent of people support accession to the Eurasian Union. At the same time, membership in the EU was supported by 44 percent.

Sociologists say that the number of Moldovans who support the government’s policy of European integration has decreased by 17 percent from last year.

The Customs Union between Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia came into existence on January 1, 2010. Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia are to go on with economic integration and vowed to remove all customs borders between each other after July 2011. It is separate from the Eurasian Union.

Eurasian Economic Community is an international organization that ensures multilateral economic cooperation among its member states.

The EurAsEC was founded according to the Treaty on the Establishment of the Eurasian Economic Community, signed by the presidents of the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation and the Republic of Tajikistan in Astana on October 10, 2000.

The establishment of the EurAsEC customs union and common economic space will enable the Community to become in the near future a rapidly developing organisation for regional integration, able to ensure effective use of existing economic potential to raise the living standard of its peoples.

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