The signatures in favor of holding a referendum on Gagauzia gaining independence from Moldova will not be recognized if the initiative group does not submit an application to the Central Election Commission (CEC) so that it is issued with standard papers for collecting signatures.

The information was communicated to the press by the CEC president Iurie Ciocan, IPN reports.

An initiative group from the Territorial Administrative Unit of Gagauzia announced that they collected 5,000 signatures from over 25 villages in favor of holding a referendum on gaining independence from Moldova. The list of signatures was submitted to the local legislative body – the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia. The information was confirmed by the deputy of the Comrat legislature Ivan Burgundji in a TV program.