Moldova observes Memorial Day

Better a bad peace than a good war, agreed those who attended today, March 2, a religious service at the Nativity Cathedral in Chisinau to remember those who died in combat during the 1992 Nistru military conflict. The service was also attended by top Moldovan officials, Info-Prim Neo reports. Eduard Maican, the head of the Independence War Veterans' Association, says that 19 years ago he went together with other policemen to the villages on the eastern side of the Nistru to restore constitutional order: “But there we encountered militiamen unlawfully armed and supported by the 14th Russian Army and we were forced to defend ourselves. This is how the war started”, remembers Eduard Maican. “This is the only day when we can meet together, to see who is still alive, because with each year that passes we are fewer and fewer. This is the day when we all remember what we had been through”, says veteran Oleg Paun. He states that he went to war in the spring of 1992 in order to defend his country, his parents and beloved ones, leaving behind his mother, his wife and kid. Moldova's acting President Marian Lupu remarked that whatever the dispute, either political or of other nature, it is not worth settling trough an armed conflict. “Many lives were lost, many wives lost their husbands and children lost their fathers. No matter how difficult a problem seems to be, it must be settled through diplomatic means”, said Marian Lupu. On Memorial Day all the churches across the country held requiem services. “It has become a tradition to hold a mass in remembrance of the combatants who died during the Nistru conflict. The Church always and restlessly remembers those who sacrificed their lives for the sovereignty, independence and integrity of our country”, said Fr. Vadim Cheibas, spokesperson for the Moldovan Orthodox Church. On March 2, commemorative rallies were held near what was used to be the battlefields of Cocieri, Cosnita, Tighina. In Causeni and in Cheltosu village, Cantemir district, two commemorative tablets were unveiled to pay homage to the men who died in combat. Acting President Marian Lupu conferred distinctions on a number of people for their merits in defending Moldova's integrity, in strengthening the veterans' movement and in educating the young generations in the spirit of patriotism. March 2, the day on which the armed conflict on the Nistru started in 1992, was declared by the Moldovan Parliament as Memorial day. According to unofficial data, around 300 combatants and civilians were killed in that brief war.