BEIJING, June 28. /TASS/. Moldova may begin cooperation with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and BRICS after power changes hands in Chisinau, leader of Moldova’s Party of Socialists and former president of the country, Igor Dodon, told TASS.

"I think that after the change of power in Moldova, we will be interested in taking part in the SCO and BRICS, first as observers. We will be taking steps toward this," he said, adding that his country will hold its presidential election in 2024 and parliamentary polls in 2025.

"The status of an EAEU (Eurasian Economic Union - TASS) observer we obtained during my presidency was the right step and this status should be used," Dodon said, adding that Moldova should pursue a balanced foreign policy, "be friends with both the West and the East" and refrain from "taking part in West-initiated sanction processes."

"We should be friends with the European Union too, as they are our neighbors but we should be more selective about what they insist on. For instance, they insist on certain values Moldova doesn’t need," he explained.

Dodon is on a working visit to China to attend a conference dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence.

The five principles are the core of the Indian-Chinese agreement on Tibet that was signed on June 28, 1954. These principles - mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence - later formed the basis of China’s foreign policy strategy.