Corruption is the worst phenomenon for any society and is even worse for a society in transition, said the Head of the EU Delegation to Moldova Peter Michalko. In an interview for Radio Free Europe, the ambassador stated that the fight against corruption is one of the main criteria on which the EU assistance for Moldova and the cooperation are based, IPN reports.

“Reading the Association Agreement and the association agenda, you will see the extent of the emphasis placed on the fight against corruption. Surely, in this regard it is important that all the state institutions involved in the fight against corruption should work credibly so that the citizens are sure that the institutions are independent and there are no interests that would influence them in an unbalanced way,” stated the diplomat.

Peter Michalko noted the EU wants the Republic of Moldova to be a democratic state and thus requests to meet criteria related to human rights, observance of democratic norms when implementing the controversial mixed electoral system, implicitly to maintain a multiparty political system, the independence of justice and freedom of the media. He discussed these issued in all the meetings he had with Moldovan official and the Government of Moldova knew thus very well in what conditions the EU assistance will be disbursed.

As regards the assessment that covered the justice sector reform in 2014-2015, the official said it was established that the progress made in the reform process wasn’t satisfactory for providing that tranche of budget support. The very slow pace in adopting legislation was then one of the main elements. There were changes in the legislation later, but these changes should have been accompanied by visible and solid implementation.

As to the EU macro-financial assistance, Peter Michalko said its provision will depend on the assessment of the situation after the adoption of the new electoral system that will be conducted to see what decisions are taken to implement this legislation and if they meet the principles of democracy and the efficient democratic system.

Asked why the Europeans integration could not become a national idea among the ordinary people, the diplomat stated he does not agree that the ordinary people do not support the European integration process. What is important is to know better what this thing means and how their lives can improve if Moldova is developed based on cooperation relations with the EU. With the existing instruments, like the Association Agreement and the assistance from the EU, the Republic of Moldova and its people can reach the European standards and can successfully cover this road, as other states did.