Parliament adopted in the first reading a bill on war graves and commemorative works that specifies their legal regime. Under the bill, the war graves and commemorative works belong to the public sector of the state or to the administrative-territorial units of the first and second levels and will be managed by a special body that will be created for the purpose at the Ministry of Defense – the National Agency for the Cult of Heroes, IPN reports.

Deputy Minister of Culture Pavel Postica said in Parliament that the bill drafted by the Ministry of Culture is designed to establish a monitoring mechanism so that the military monuments are kept in their original form and are not destroyed. The National Agency for the Cult of Heroes will be responsible for organizing state programs of events for commemorating those who died in the line of duty and will also organize a national system of general supervision of war graves and commemorative works located on Moldova’s territory.

Pavel Postica noted that the bill envisions a protection area of 20 to 50 meters in the case of war graves and of 50 to 100 meters in the case of commemorative works. In the case of war commemorative plaques, the protection area will be of 30 to 50 meters.

The bill forms part of the legislative program for fulfilling the transposition commitments assumed through the EU-Moldova Association Agreement.