A granite plaque of about two meters with the text of the Declaration of Independence was unveiled on the building of the Constitutional Court. The ceremony was attended by high-ranking officials, who stressed that this step is of historical importance. Moldova’s President Nicolae Timofti said that this is a gesture showing the will to follow the desiderata contained in this text, which laid the foundations of Moldova’s independence. “Over the years, some of the provisions of the Declaration of Independence have been disregarded or even neglected and we must repair this injustice. The destruction of the original of the Declaration three years ago must make us more determined to achieve the ideals of our forerunners,” he stated. First Deputy Speaker Vlad Plahotniuc said the plaque was a homage paid to those who signed the Declaration of Independence. “We remember them with gratitude as they created a free and independent state. I’m sure they would be glad to see that their courageous act wasn’t in vain. They laid the foundations of a new, truly democratic state. We live a moment that marks the country’s stability and political stability,” he said. Prime Minister Vlad Filat said that the Declaration of Independence of Moldova is not a statement adopted overnight, but a document that represents the generations’ wish to live in a free country. “The event perfectly fits the actions that urge us to unite, to praise and to protect what lays at the basis of every state,” he stated, suggesting that the President should confer the Order of the Republic on all those who signed the Declaration of Independence. Constitutional Court president Alexandru Tanase said that Moldova did not have a simple history. It went through periods of glory, but also of peace and war. “A state is built not by one generation only or by the people who share the same ideas. It is built by all the citizens of Moldova. The fact that the Declaration of Independence’s text was put on a plaque is very important and has a political connotation because this document is an eternal value. The Constitutions change, while the text of the Declaration remains the same,” he said. MP Mihai Ghimpu, who was a member of the first Parliament too, said that it wasn’t easy when the Declaration of Independence was adopted. “The struggle for language and alphabet ended with the signing of the Declaration of Independence. We fought for the Latin script and the tricolor, but the objective was to separate from the Soviet Empire,” he stated. “We struggled to obtain this independence for three years, but it is 22 years of its adoption and we cannot yet implement it because the interests are above it.”