The strategic priorities related to the fight against corruption and the justice sector reform set last summer by the Sandu Government remained stagnant after this government was replaced. The concentration of the power by the President and the fact that politicized actions are taken in the period before the presidential elections are worrisome, the EU – Moldova Civil Society Platform ascertained.

Co-chairman Ion Guzun, in the sixth meeting of the Platform, said that during five years of the signing of the Association Agreement with the EU, visible results were achieved in such areas as border security, energy interconnection and mobility of persons. But there are areas where no changes were brought about even if amendments were made to the legislation. These are the justice sector reform, the fight against corruption and the democratization process, IPN reports.

According to Ion Guzun, the financial support from the EU followed another direction and this fact cannot be ignored. The justice sector reform strategy for 2011-2016, which was extended for 2017, expired and no roadmap or priority actions were set down since then. “The new justice sector reform strategy is a new document in which we cannot see a strategic view. It is just a list of priority and less strategic actions,” stated Igor Guzun, noting the mass media continue to be affected, the Russian propaganda continues under the auspices of other media outlets that did something similar earlier and this is worrisome.

Co-chairman of the Platform Cristian Pîrvulescu said the changes that occurred last summer were greeted with confidence, but now a series of priorities considered necessary, related to the rule of law, justice and the fight against corruption, no longer seem as important.

Transparency International Moldova executive director Lilia Carashchuk said the successes are often on paper only. Currently, success can be ascertained not even on paper. “We put a lot of hope in the pressure that is exerted by the European institutions on the Republic of Moldova to make it clean up if it has European aspirations,“ she stated.

Head of the EU Delegation to Moldova Peter Michalko said the EU wants to see political will and definite actions in such areas as democracy, the mass media, political pluralism and involvement of civil society. The EU will follow attentively the presidential elections and warns about the measures that need to be taken to redress the shortcomings signaled earlier, related to party and election campaign funding, vote in the diaspora, etc.

Eugen Revenco, secretary general of state at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, said the European integration was and remains a priority of Moldova’s domestic and foreign policy and the priority actions are coordinated at the level of governmental institutions.