You're reading: Acting Moldovan president to take part in CIS meeting in Moscow but won’t attend Victory Day parade

Chisinau, May 1 (Interfax) - Acting Moldovan President Mihai Ghimpu will take part in an informal Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) meeting in Moscow on May 8 but has ruled out attending events in Russia a day later to mark the 65th anniversary of the end of World War II.

"I have been thinking about it for a long time and decided that I will go to the CIS summit in Moscow, as Moldova participates in discussing economic issues in the Commonwealth. At the same time, I will not attend the Victory Parade. I will express my gratitude to President Dmitry Medvedev for inviting me to the parade but will return to Chisinau. On that day, I want to be together with Moldovan veterans who took part in this war, regardless of what side they fought for," Ghimpu said at a press conference on Friday.

Moldova granted equal rights and benefits to veterans who fought both for the Soviet and the Romanian armies a long ago, he said.

"I don’t see any tragedy in that I will not attend the parade [in Moscow]. [Ukrainian President] Viktor Yanukovych will not go, and [Belarusian President] Alexander Lukashenko will not go, either. But once it was announced that Mihai Ghimpu would not go, there was a scandal at once," he said.

Ghimpu at first said he would lead an official Moldovan delegation to Moscow on May 9 but later said he would not attend.

He then ordered that the Moldovan Defense Ministry not delegate Moldovan servicemen to take part in the parade, but he was forced to revise this decision under pressure from Prime Minister Vlad Filat and the leaders of the parties comprising of the Alliance for European Integration.

"Nothing relates me with Moscow. Victors will go there, but I believe the losers have nothing to do there. I agree that the 65th anniversary of the end of WWII is approaching. But I cannot forget other calamities as well, like deportations and organized famine through which citizens of the Republic of Moldova went in the Soviet times," Ghimpu said.