“I think it is our duty, as the representatives of the European institutions, to offer Moldova a European perspective and the Moldovan citizens a hope, and to show that the Republic of Moldova has yet a chance,” Romanian MEP Siegfried Muresan said in his speech in the European Parliament, IPN reports, quoting the official website of the MEP. Siegfried Muresan noted that if the European institutions do not offer a perspective, Vladimir Putin will offer it and this won’t be good either for Moldova or for the EU.

The MEP said the reality is that the Republic of Moldova benefits a lot from the association and rapprochement with the EU. Moldova is the non-EU member state that receives the largest volume of European funds per capita. “Our duty is to explain the benefits of coming closer to the EU to the people of the Republic of Moldova and not to allow them remain hostage of the Eastern propaganda, which says that the rapprochement with the EU offers no concrete advantages,” he stated.

“We must say it clearly: in 2014, when the Russian Federation imposed a ban on the Moldovan products, the European Union reacted and increased the fruit import quotas and removed the wine import quotas. It thus ensured the existence of agricultural entrepreneurs, farmers.”

Siegfried Muresan added that it’s necessary to clearly tell the Moldovan people who their friends are and who their enemies are and it should be clearly said that the European Union wants Moldova to be powerful, independent and on its own feet.