Congress of Local and Regional Authorities in Europe (CALRE)

The team of the Ministry of Justice, together with Minister Veronica Mihailov-Moraru, participated in  the meeting with the delegation of  the Congress  of Local and Regional Authorities in Europe (CALRE),  on a monitoring visit to the Republic of Moldova. 

During the discussions, the subjects related to the electoral legislation, the experience of the  electoral processes  and the challenges of the ongoing electoral exercise , the degree of readiness of the institutions to manage potential dangers , the level of involvement of the population in the electoral exercises were  addressed . 

The minister also spoke about the initiative promoted in 2022 by the ministry through which the Criminal Code was completed with components of crimes  in order to make the prevention, investigation and sanctioning mechanisms for the forms of political and electoral corruption more efficient . The general objective is  to  combat electoral corruption and to make electoral competitors responsible , regardless of the period in which the elections take place and the type of electoral ballot .

The objective reflection of the electoral campaign  was another topic addressed by the CALRE experts, the need to  ensure the dimension of  gender equality  in the electoral lists ,  as well as the  right to have access to   correct information and sources of information .

” In the context of the European course of the Republic of Moldova, the result of these elections  is  essential for the continuation of the European integration of the country  as well as the  challenges faced by the Republic of Moldova during the electoral period, taking into account  the  actions of  hybrid war manifested against the Republic of Moldova, especially during the election period . ”  mentioned  the Minister of Justice .

CALRE is the representative body of local and regional authorities in the member states of the Council of Europe and,  through its activities ,  contributes to the consolidation of local and regional democracy in the 46 member states of the  CoE , it has the mission of monitoring the authorities responsible for functioning in a transparent way, to maintain impartiality and independence from political manipulation.