Athens. 8 April 2024. Meeting between the IAO Secretary General and Moldovan MPs

On Tuesday, April 8th, 2024, the Secretary General of the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy (IAO), Dr. Maximos Charakopoulos, held a meeting with a delegation of the Parliament of Moldova, consisting of the President of the Committee on Foreign Policy and European Integration, Mrs. Ina Coseru, the President of the Moldova-Greece Friendship Parliamentary Group, Mrs. Larisa Novac and the Moldovan Ambassador in Athens, Mr. Andrei Popov. The IAO Advisor, Dr. Kostas Mygdalis, also attended the meeting.

At the meeting, held at the Hellenic Parliament, the head of the inter-parliamentary institution expressed the hope that this cooperation would be a starting point for rewarming relations between the IAO and the Parliament of Moldova, which is a founding member of the Organization. Referring to the IAO objectives, which was established after the collapse of the Eastern Bloc regimes, he underlined that the promotion of the common cultural heritage of the Orthodox, the promotion of Christian values in the EU, as well as the interfaith and inter-cultural dialogue for the mutual understanding and the peaceful coexistence of peoples, are more relevant today than ever. He also stood in favor of supporting Moldova’s candidacy for joining the European Union, which at the same time will contribute to strengthening the presence of the Orthodox in the “European family”. At the same time, he invited the Parliament of Moldova to be represented at the international conference to be held in Thessaloniki, on the topic “Politics as a space for the expression of Christian values in everyday life” (15-17 May 2024). Moreover, he also proposed to appoint a parliamentary delegation that will take part in the IAO General Assembly, which will take place next summer.

Mrs. Larisa Novac, referring to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, noted that Moldova is on the border of a war that they hear the bombings every day, as the distance from the country’s capital, Chisinau, to Odessa is only 80 km, and they know how difficult it is to live in the area. In addition, she pointed out that the Church in Moldova has not yet taken a position against Russia’s war. The country has two metropoles – of which the Metropolis of Moldova is under the Patriarchate of Moscow and the Metropolis of Bessarabia is under the Patriarchate of Romania. The Church sometimes promotes negative messages, while it should unite the Orthodox and promote values such as humility and solidarity.

The IAO Secretary General argued that the IAO condemned since the beginning the war between Russia and Ukraine, which has also left its mark on the Organization, as Russia and Ukraine are founding members. At the same time, he emphasized that religion should not, under any circumstances, be politically instrumentalized. In addition, he reiterated the will to strengthen the cooperation with Chisinau, possibly through the organization of a conference or a meeting of the IAO International Secretariat in Moldova, promoting, in this way, a message of support for a country with a European orientation.