The European Union welcomes the voting in of the Government led by Dorin Recean, but appreciates also the work done by ex-Premier Natalia Gavrilița, who made considerable efforts towards the integration into the EU, stated the EU Ambassador to Moldova Jānis Mažeiks. In a news conference, the diplomat spoke about a number of subjects, such as Russia’s war against Ukraine, the energy crisis, the threats to national security and the advantages of obtaining the EU candidate status, IPN reports.
“The Government led by Natalia Gavrilița had to overcome a number of crises and I think that it coped rather well. Under her administration, the country managed to take a number of measures to obtain the candidate status and to come close to the EU. I think the year 2022 proved how important the orientation to the European path was. The Moldovans are part of the European Union,” said the Head of the EU Delegation to Moldova.
Referring to Russia’s war against Ukraine, the diplomat said that the support provided by the Moldovan citizens to the refugees showed solidarity, but noted that the EU contributed essentially to overcoming the refugee crisis, bearing a part of the pressure that fell on Moldova’s shoulders.
“In the evening of February 24, we will turn off the lights in order to commemorate the persons who died as a result of this war. We tried to counteract disinformation and to train journalists. Evidently, disinformation has been witnessed not only in the Republic of Moldova. That’s why it is important to work on critical support,” he stated.
As regards the European agenda and the fulfillment of the conditions needed for coming closer to the EU, Jānis Mažeiks said the Government made a lot of effort, working on the nine important areas, five of which are related to the justice sector reform and the fight against corruption.
“A part of these reforms were frustrating and slow for some of the citizens, but we urge you to show patience as these processes must be independent. A lot of things need yet to be done. The country works in a pragmatic way on these identified problems. We hope there will be things that you will be able to implement swiftly. The accession process lasts for years and if there is commitment on the part of the people of the country, not only of the administration, this period of becoming an EU member can be shorter and, inversely, if there is an exchange of opinions, the process can be more difficult,” said the diplomat.
As to the concerns about the attempts to destabilize the situation in the Republic of Moldova, Ambassador Mažeiks said that it is important for the country to build resilience. “It goes to the increasing of the Republic of Moldova’s capacities to ensure security on the country’s borders. It is also important to build the information system. In this regard, I want to say that it goes not only to the strengthening of defense capabilities through the army, but also to cybersecurity and energy security. It is very important to work on all the aspects. For us, the support for the sovereignty and independence of the Republic of Moldova is essential. That’s why we continue to provide support that is not only financial, but is also in the form of expertise or political support,” said the European ambassador.
Asked about the way in which the EU monitors how the European funds are spent in the Republic of Moldova, the ambassador said that the European authorities take care for transparency to be ensured in the processes. “I want to note that the EU Delegation in its composition includes a whole section that monitors for the funds to be directed and used correctly. If we identify particular barriers, we try to recover the inefficiently used funds,” stated the official.
Jānis Mažeiks took up his duties in September 2021.
