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Protesters stage "anti-summit" in Moldova's capital

Hundreds of supporters of the country’s largest Communist Party, activists of the Russian Youth League, the Patriots of Moldova party and other public movements gathered for the protest demonstration

CHISINAU, November 29. /ITAR-TASS/. Activists held an "anti-summit" in Moldova's capital on Friday in protest against the EU-Moldovan association agreement initialed at the Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius on Friday.

Hundreds of supporters of the country’s largest Communist Party, activists of the Russian Youth League, the Patriots of Moldova party and other public movements gathered for the protest demonstration that began near the EU mission office on Thursday.

Demonstrators pitched tents, in which parliament members had “public reception rooms”, where they explained disadvantages of the hasty conclusion of the agreement with Brussels.

"An ordinary geopolitical plot has happened in Vilnius against another part of Europe. Moldova has acquired the status of a small dog that must bark in the eastern direction under the master's order," deputy Mark Tkachuk said when speaking at the meeting.

Meanwhile, in accordance with the authorities’ directions, festive illuminations will be turned on at the capital's central square on Friday evening, a concert will be given and fireworks are planned in connection with the Vilnius summit. "The initialing of the association agreement with the EU will lead Moldova to the European Union," Moldovan Premier Iurie Leanka said on Friday.

Moldova residents have various opinions on the Vilnius agreement. According to the latest sociological polls, the number of EU integration supporters is almost equal to the number of supporters of the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

To demonstrate their support for the association agreement with the EU, the country's authorities organized a rally of thousands of people at Chisinau's central square in early November. The opposition Communist Party held a meeting of tens of thousands on the same square on November 23, demanding to give up the agreement. The events are watched with anxiety from the self-declared Dniester republic. People in the region are concerned that tightened migration control on which the EU insists will affect the right for free traveling for Russian and Ukrainian citizens who live in the republic. The region also fears a new economic blockade from the side of Moldova and the EU. Authorities in the Gagauz autonomy plan to hold a referendum in February to ask whether to join the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.