President Sandu said on Tuesday that next week she will go to Strasbourg to participate in the spring session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe during which she will give a speech on Moldova. Maia Sandu mentioned that she will also have a meeting in Strasbourg with the members of the Venice Commission and with representatives of other important institutions.

“Next week I will be in Strasbourg, I will go to the Council of Europe and I will have a speech about Moldova at the Assembly of the Council of Europe. I will also have a meeting with the Venice Commission and other important institutions, including the action plan for human rights in Moldova. Visits are important so that we can get help and that’s what I proved in the first months. The visits I had in the first months resulted in concrete help. We will start long-term projects,” mentioned Maia Sandu.

According to a note issued by the Council of Europe, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Minister of State for Europe Michael Roth will attend the spring session. President Maia Sandu, the President of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, and the Secretary-General of the Organization, Marija Pejčinović Burić, will also address the participants. During this session, the Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, will present the annual report for 2020, and the Assembly will award the “Václav Havel Human Rights Prize”.

The delegation of the Parliament of Moldova participated in the winter session of the Council of Europe. So far, two former presidents of Moldova have participated in sessions in Strasbourg. In January 2020, the former Socialist President Igor Dodon participated in the Council of Europe plenary session where he gave a speech. In 2012, the then President, Nicolaie Timofti, attended the session in Strasbourg. Timofti gave a speech and answered questions from the Council of Europe parliamentarians.