The journalists who gathered at the meeting held on the Press Freedom Day on May 3 pleaded for freedom, transparency and better economic conditions for the editorial offices. The event was staged in the National Opera House square and started with the reading of a report on the situation of the press in Moldova during May 3, 2009 – May 3, 2010, Info-Prim Neo reports. “I want to believe that the press is freer this year as the behavior of the public press has changed slightly and we hope we will have a new product. New press institutions appeared, but we need to join efforts and influence the job of journalist from the inside. The press will win economically only through credibility,” said the chairman of the Union of Journalists of Moldova Valeriu Saharneanu. He also said that the press must be powerful and influence the behavior of the state institutions. “The senior authorities should respond to the approaches made by the journalists. There are different instruments for supporting the press. There are states that support the mass media institutions without interfering in their editorial policy,” Valeriu Saharneanu said. Cornelia Cozonac, the head of the Journalistic Investigations Center, said not many journalists came to the meeting and urged her colleagues not to relax even if the country is governed by democratic forces. Prime Minister Vlad Filat congratulated the journalists on their professional day, calling on them to have their eyes not only on the Government, but also on the Opposition. “Many problems have not been yet solved, but progress is made and the people are being informed, not only manipulated,” Vlad Filat said. Petru Macovei, the executive director of the Independent Press Association, said the new government should show greater attachment to the democratic values. “The press in Moldova is in a precarious economic situation. The press activities should be facilitated as business,” Macovei said. The meeting participants spoke about the arrest of journalist Ernest Vardanyan in Tiraspol. “I think we should stage protests at the Embassy of Russia in Chisinau and demand that he be released because Russia has the greatest influence on the Transnistrian authorities,” said Valeriu Saharneanu. Premier Vlad Filat said Ernest Vardanyan is held in appropriate conditions and his situation is monitored by the international institutions. “We are making effort to set him free through the instruments we possess. We cannot say when he will be released, but we try hard for this to happen as spoon as possible,” he said.