For two aspects this conference in Chisinau was a unique experience for the European Left: Not only was it the first time that a European Left conference was hosted in Moldova with a large participation from eastern and western left parties but also it was the first time that the government is organizing an EL event.
The Communist party of the Republic of Moldova is the only party in the history of the European communist movement that achieved as single party the majority in Parliament and that in only eight years after their creation.
For the 16 political parties who attended the conference that fact was of big interest. The experience in government played an important role throughout the debate of the European neighbourhood policy, as it is a unique experience for the European Left.    
After a warm welcome by the President of the Republic of Moldova Vladimir Voronin and Panos Trigazis from Synaspismos (Greece), the conference dealt with several aspects which are of big importance for the understanding of the situations in east and west (please see the Agenda here) .
 
Parties from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Federation, Belarus and of course the EL parties from Eastern Europe like Estonia, Czech Republic and Romania were present in Chisinau. The many different viewpoints enabled the central and western European Left parties from France, Portugal, Germany, Italy, Greece and Cyprus to have a clear picture of the situation in Eastern Europe and of other CIS countries.
Besides the EL Executive board meeting in Tallinn, the EL-Fem meeting in Bucharest and  the scheduled 2nd EL congress in Prague in November 24/25.11.07 this conference was an important step for the European Left to deepen its knowledge and understanding of the situation in eastern European countries.
All participants stressed the importance of the meeting and the hope that this debate will be continued and the dialog between Eat and West will be fostered. For the EL this dialog is essential in the search for concrete political alternatives to the EU neoliberal policies for “Another possible Europe”.
Please find several contributions here