A Family March promoting traditional values will take place in central Chișinău on Saturday, Party of Socialists of Moldova leader Igor Dodon announced during a briefing in Parliament. The event, organised by the Party of Socialists, will begin at 10:00 outside the Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova (ASEM). Participants will then march towards the square beside the Metropolitan Cathedral. Dodon urged supporters to arrive by 9:30 so that the procession could begin on time.
Family March promotes traditional values
The organisers say the Family March is intended to demonstrate support for the traditional family, which they describe as a longstanding spiritual and moral foundation of Moldovan society. The Party of Socialists says it opposes the promotion of values it regards as incompatible with the country’s national traditions and has invited those who share its position to join the procession.
Dodon said his party had consistently defended national values and the traditional institution of the family. He recalled that the Socialists had repeatedly submitted bills seeking to impose criminal liability for the promotion of LGBT policies in Moldova.
“The Party of Socialists defends national values. We oppose LGBT policies. We have already submitted legislative initiatives to the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova several times to establish criminal liability for promoting LGBT policies in the Republic of Moldova,” he said.
Previous marches attracted thousands
In previous years, the Family March attracted thousands of participants, including Orthodox Church priests and parishioners carrying icons and church banners.
Clergy taking part in the events said that, in the Christian understanding, a family is a union between a man and a woman, involving a mother and a father. Participants also expressed concern that broader recognition of alternative relationships could weaken established social and religious traditions.
“Families raise healthy, wise, courageous and faithful children who contribute to the country’s development,” participants said at previous marches.
The procession has become a regular form of public campaigning by conservative and religious groups in Moldova. Its organisers present it as a defence of family values they say are recognised by the country’s constitution and rooted in Orthodox Christian traditions.
Social and political divisions remain
The march will take place amid an increasingly polarised debate over family policy, religious values and the rights of sexual minorities in Moldova. The Party of Socialists and its supporters accuse the government of adopting policies influenced by Brussels and international partners. They argue that these policies do not reflect the views of a substantial part of Moldovan society.
Supporters of LGBT rights, meanwhile, have argued that legal protections and public events for minority groups concern equal treatment and protection from discrimination rather than an attempt to undermine traditional families.
The competing demonstrations underline a broader cultural and political divide over how Moldova should balance religious traditions, individual rights and its closer alignment with the European Union.
