The decision on the report of the Commission of Inquiry to clarify the factual and legal circumstances of the interference of the Otwarty Dialog Foundation and its founder Ludmila Kozlowska in the internal affairs of Moldova and the financing of political parties has been repealed. This was voted for by 59 MEPs at a sitting of Parliament on Thursday 2 February.

“That decision was an instrument of harassment of opposition political parties, containing pronounced political undertones, and the repeal of the document is necessary for the future exclusion of political persecution from the position of political power and ensuring the exercise of civil rights and political freedom,” said Deputy Speaker Mihail Popșoi.

The decision, adopted in 2018, noted an alleged active involvement of foreign or foreign-funded domestic public associations in direct and indirect financing of political party activities.

In 2018, the Democratic Party of Moldova (PDM) called for a parliamentary inquiry to investigate the alleged illegal funding of opposition parties. At the time, Ziarul de Gardă wrote that the Pediists claim that Kozlovsk’s organisation has “constantly attacked the image of our state, the political class in Chisinau, in the eyes of development partners, and illegally interfered in Moldovan political activity”.