The EU candidate status will offer the Republic of Moldova great financial opportunities for financing infrastructure and democratization projects, said the president of the Party of Change Ștefan Gligor. According to him, such a decision by the European community means an enormous credit of trust offered to the Republic of Moldova and the authorities should profit from the European expertise and funds for modernizing the country in a record period of time. For her part, Șor Party MP Marina Tauber said that Moldova is now far from the main principles and values of the EU, IPN reports.
Representatives of the parliamentary opposition admit that given the regional security crisis, the EU could offer the candidate country status, but this does not change the living standards of the people and does not turn Moldova into a democratic state.
“The European Union makes an exception now. We all realize that not the country’s European status makes the life of the citizens of this country really European, but the pensions, salaries, the living standards. We are so far from democracy and the freedom of expression. I, as a candidate who won 48% of the vote in elections and whose victory was annulled, can say with certitude that the human rights in the Republic of Moldova are not respected. We do not have transparency and democracy, which are the basic principles of the European Union,” Marina Tauber stated in the program “Friday with Anatolie Golea” on RTR Moldova channel.
The president of the Party of Change Ștefan Gligor said the window of opportunity created by the difficult regional conjuncture should be used to the maximum. In five-seven years, the living conditions in Moldova can be brought close to those in the EU member states.
“We must explain to the people that this is a historic period and the obtaining of the candidate country status implies another level of financing of infrastructure projects and development processes. The Republic of Moldova is such a small country that the support and expertise of the European Union can be used to reform the country at the speed of light during 5-7 years. If they give us such a great credit of trust owing to the huge price paid now by Ukraine, as the Ukrainians die now for their freedom and for the freedom of the Republic of Moldova, the justice sector reform will be the main condition,” stated Ștefan Gligor.
On Friday, the European Commission recommended that Moldova should be granted European Union candidate status, a first step in the long process of accession. The Commission concluded that Moldova has a solid foundation in place to reach the stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities; macroeconomic policies have been reasonably sound and progress has been made in strengthening the financial sector and business environment but key economic reforms remain to be undertaken.
