Russia calls for EU action to protect Moldovan sovereignty

(MOSCOW) - The European Union and Romania must act to ensure that "Romanian slogans and flags" do not undermine the sovereignty of Moldova, Russian Foreign Ministr Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday.

"The slogans and flags which were used in Chisinau on Tuesday worried us very much. They showed unambiguously that the demonstrators were taken by the idea of destroying Moldovan sovereignty," he said in an interview with the RIA Novosti state news agency.

"We hope that the European Union and Romania will take action to ensure Romanian flags and slogans are not used as a pretext for harming Moldovan sovereignty," he added.

Many of the Moldovan demonstrators who stormed parliament on Tuesday shouted "We are Romanians!" and brandished the flag of Romania, which shares the same language as Moldova.

Lavrov said it would be wrong to compare the events in Moldova with the "colour revolutions" that have taken place elsewhere in the former Soviet Union in recent years, like the so-called Orange Revolution in Ukraine.

He said no international organisation had queried the results of the Moldovan election at the weekend, which the protestors had condemned as flawed.

"This kind of 'colour' revolution cannot be supported ... as long as illegal means are used," he said, describing the events in Moldova as "vandalism" and "complete scorn for state symbols".