2015 was a lost year for the Republic of Moldova in terms of reforms, which were either postponed or were stagnant. Last year was also lost for the Moldovan diplomatic service, executive director of the Foreign Policy Association (APE) Victor Chirila said in a news conference at IPN. He noted that Moldova is now more often regarded as an imminent threat to the regional security, while the country’s diplomatic service didn’t have enough arguments to promote the foreign policy agenda, including the European one.
“Our diplomats didn’t have solid arguments based on the realities in the country. They couldn’t prevent the suspension of funding from the foreign partners for the first time in the last six years. Also, the Republic of Moldova lost the almost unconditional support of the EU,” said the APE director.
He also said that the dialogue with Germany, which has been the main partner in the last few years, worsened substantially, while the messages transmitted from Chisinau to the European capitals are increasingly dissonant with the actions taken in the country. “The stagnation of the process of implementing the association agenda, together with the degradation of the internal political climate, didn’t allow the diplomatic service to fully realize the opportunities provided by the Eastern Partnership Summit of Riga, while Moldova was discouraged by the foreign partners from submitting the application for accession to the EU, which is a failure of the diplomatic service and is due to the irresponsibility of the Moldovan politicians,” stated Victor Chirila.
According to the APE director, Chisinau does not have a clear view on what steps it should take in the strategic dialogue with the U.S. Corruption and other deficiencies hamper this dialogue. Romania’s role in the European integration process is not put to good use and this relationship lacks an ambitious agenda. “We ascertain with sadness that the dialogue with the official Bucharest has been lately reduced to the begging of financial assistance and loans for paying pensions and salaries. From our viewpoint, the Association Agreement with the EU is a very good platform for developing the relations with Romania. I think an agenda is needed in this regard,” said the foreign policy expert.
Victor Chirila noted that the partnership with Ukraine is also not fully exploited. “The official Chisinau ignores Ukraine’s role in the process of ensuring regional security. We think that both Chisinau and Kiev do not take enough measures to create the conditions needed for resolving the Transnistrian dispute,” he stated.
The expert believes that the dialogue with Russia is anemic, but this country is a strategic economic partner of Moldova. Without Russia, it is impossible to settle the Transnistrian conflict. “Regretfully, the Republic of Moldova practically does not have a convincing and credible foreign policy. Its objectives are not clearly defined, while its actions are often incoherent. The dialogue with Moscow suffers a lot because of the lack of efficient communication. I think the foreign policy on the Russian Federation should be redefined. A credible policy in the relations with Russia will be impossible if there is no common view among the political class. We must bring things in our country in order and be united,” stated Victor Chirila.
In this connection, the APE will carry out a series of activities aimed at making the political class to update the foreign policy conception and to improve the relations with the main partners.
