Romanian MEP Siegfried Mureșan spoke on Wednesday, March 8, at the Digi24.ro about the situation in the Republic of Moldova, about the challenges orchestrated by the Russian Federation in Chisinau, as well as about this country’s accession to the European Union. “The pro-Russian parties are more active than they were, but they are not stronger than they were,” the EPP vice-president said. “Their protests gather a few thousand people, they don’t represent the will of the majority of people, so it’s not a credible street action, but we have to be careful.”
Alexandru Rotaru, Digi24.ro journalist: You visited Chisinau some time ago, a moment that coincided with a moment of destabilization by the pro-Russian parties there. The Minister of Foreign Affairs from Chisinau, Mr. Nicu Popescu, declares – 2030, the year in which the Republic of Moldova will be part of the European Union. Is this a real term?
Siegfried Mureșan, PPE vice-president: We managed to do many things with the Republic of Moldova and for the Republic of Moldova in the last year.
The Republic of Moldova submitted its EU accession application at the beginning of March last year, and in less than 4 months we granted the Republic of Moldova the status of a candidate state for EU accession.
For other countries that joined the European Union, it took years from the moment they submitted their application to the moment when the status of a candidate state was granted. Including for us, Romania, it took years.
For the Republic of Moldova, we did this in just 4 months. The European Commission made 9 reform recommendations to the Republic of Moldova to be implemented in order to move to the next stage. Reforms in Justice, reform of the prosecutor’s office, strengthening the rule of law, combating corruption, money laundering. As soon as the government of the Republic of Moldova completes the implementation of these 9 reforms, we will discuss the next stage.
I am confident that this year the government in Chisinau will complete these 9 reforms and I emphasize, the European Union must start the accession negotiations of the Republic of Moldova to the EU this year.
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The process will be serious, as such, no one can give a guarantee about the time of joining.
Alexandru Rotaru: We know that you monitor the political stability of the Republic of Moldova at the level of the Commission, and at the level of the European Parliament. There was public talk from Brussels about a plan aimed at a coup in Chisinau. The plan was made public and detailed afterward by Maia Sandu. We see increasingly strong tensions in Chisinau – the pro-Russian parties, more active than ever, with people out on the streets, often paid. Why do you think Putin now wants to overthrow the government in Chisinau, and what do you think the scenario could be in the coming months?
Siegfried Muresan: The pro-Russian parties are more active than they were, but they are not stronger than they were.
The Russian Federation operates in the Republic of Moldova through oligarchs who are at odds with the law. In the Republic of Moldova, justice is starting to work, so the pressure is on those who are responsible for the theft of a billion dollars from the Moldovan banking system, a theft for which they have not had to give an account until now. The pressure on them must increase, that’s why now there are these protests and attempts at destabilization.
The good news is that they have failed and will continue to fail, I’ll explain why.
First of all, it is the first time since the independence of the Republic of Moldova, when in the Chisinau parliament, a single pro-European party has an absolute majority.
In the past, there were always coalitions, and alliances from several parties, often quarreling with each other, with non-transparent, unclear majorities.
Now, the pro-Russians, the oligarchs who quarrel with the law cannot destabilize the Republic of Moldova, because there is an absolute functional majority in the parliament – 63 MPs out of 101 are pro-European and support a pro-European government. And this majority of the PAS party, founded by Maia Sandu, is unshakable, even at the planned change of government a few weeks ago, all parliamentarians – 62 out of 62 present, one was absent, voted in favor of the government.
As such, I think that the citizens of the Republic of Moldova must know that there will be actions of destabilization, protests, actions of disinformation, of intimidation, and people must be alert, get information from credible, correct sources, and not fall prey to propaganda , fake news and not to be manipulated by those who want to create trouble.
The second thing, what they are trying to do – is the protests, and as you said, people are often paid for those protests, it is a documented thing, but they cannot change the democratic order of the Republic of Moldova, n- they have a way of bringing down the government, of creating real pressure.
In addition, we see that these protests gather several thousand people, they do not represent the will of the majority of people, so it is not a credible street action, to worry, but we must be careful, be alert.
Alexandru Rotaru: It is the first time in the history of the Republic of Moldova that there is public talk about the plan of a coup d’état, a plan put in place by the Kremlin. Hence the question – why do you think Putin wants an overthrow of the government in Chisinau, and if it is a danger to regional security, implicitly the EU?
Siegfried Mureșan: The Russian Federation obviously does not like the current government of the Republic of Moldova, precisely because it is a government that wants to modernize and reform the country, a republic close to the EU. In the past, politicians from Chisinau wanted a weak republic, they kept it in place, they did not strengthen it, they did not reform it, as such it was easier to control by the Russian Federation. Now, the Republic of Moldova, with the help of the EU, has drastically reduced its dependence on Russian gas, almost all of the country’s exports come to Romania and the EU, nothing goes to Russia or Belarus, as such, the Republic of Moldova becomes strong, independent. We help it, we connect it better to Romania and the EU, and this is not to Russia’s liking. Why are the Russian Federations acting? Because in the past he had pro-Russian politicians in Chisinau whom he could influence, and now this is no longer the case.
Alexandru Rotaru: There is talk of provocations in the separatist region of Transnistria, provocations that somehow are also prepared by Moscow, I also saw an extremely interesting position of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which conveyed that any attack on Transnistria will be treated as an attack on the territory Russia’s national security, which is why I ask you if the analysis from Brussels is talking about a regional security danger, and what would destabilization there mean?
Siegfried Muresan: People on both banks of the Dniester want peace, tranquility and stability. As such, the good thing is that the dialogue between the two sides of the Dniester exists, and there has been no escalation of the situation in the last year. It is a good thing. We do not have any indications regarding the risk of an escalation.