MOSCOW, October 22. /TASS/. Moscow is worried over the ruling of Moldova’s Constitutional Court closing out any political course other than that towards European integration as “a priori non-constitutional,” Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.

In conditions when no national referendums have been organized in Moldova to find out people’s foreign policy preferences, such approach obviously runs counter to common European values and basic principles of democracy - the freedom of thought and the freedom of speech, the ministry noted in a comment posted on its official website. “The silence of European institutions, so zealously advocating human rights in some cases, is only perplexing,” the ministry said.

Now that Moldova is living through a canvassing campaign ahead of parliamentary elections due on November 30, “it is especially important to steer a middle course in Moldovan society, to ensure a fair and transparent election process, the results of which are to demonstrate the choice of Moldovan citizens, including their foreign policy preferences for the republic’s further development,” the ministry said.

“Subsequent attempts of the /Constitutional/ Court’s top officials to explain the reason underlying this verdict charged with confrontational potential for the entire election campaign look untenable,” the document said.

“What else this ruling of the supreme court instance can be if not an actual outlawing of political associations standing for other development paths for the country than the goals and tasks set by parties of the current ruling coalition,” the ministry added.

Moldovan parties supporting Customs Union course may be banned

Moldova's Constitution Court laid the legislative grounds for banning the political parties that call for Moldova’s accession to the Eurasian Customs Union, which comprises Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia at the moment. Any political course different from “European integration” was declared unconstitutional.

“If the authorities use the decision to ban whatever opposition parties and organizations, the rank-and-file people will take to city squares and the situation in this country will explode,” leader of the Moldovan Socialist Party Igor Dodon commented on the court ruling.

Opinion polls indicate the Socialists have fair chances to get to parliament as a result of the forthcoming parliamentary election that has been scheduled for November 30.

Dodon accused the Communist Party, which petitioned to the Constitution Court to verify the legitimacy of the Moldova-EU Association Agreement, of conspiracy with country’s ruling Pro-European Coalition.

MPs representing the Democratic, Liberal and Liberal Democratic Parties, which make up the Pro-European Coalition, supported the ratification of the Association Agreement by parliament but the most recent opinion polls show the Republic of Moldova is split on the issue and the number of citizens speaking in support for membership of the Customs Union is clearly bigger than those who advocate integration in the EU.