Ex-President of Moldova Petru Lucinschi welcomed the planned signing of the Association Agreement with the EU and urged the Moldovan authorities to show more diplomacy in the relations with Russia. He made the statements in the program “Fabrika” on Publika TV channel, IPN reports.

According to the former head of state, it is for the first time in the country’s history that we are allowed to choose. “Until now we were forced to accept what they imposed on us. So far the European Union and the United States allocated €2.360 billion for different projects. The grants represent 56% of this sum. One should be blind not to see how many things have been done at local level starting with 2009. After the signing of the Association Agreement, Moldova will have access to 50% of the European funds. These are the most solid arguments with which we can convince the people of the benefits provided by this accord,” said Petru Lucinschi.

As to the relations with Russia, Moldova’s second President called on the Moldovan authorities not to give motives for the Moldovan-Russian relations to worsen. “We must be attentive to any statement. All the statement must be well-thought-out. We should not pay much attention to the statements made by particular Russian officials. We can answer diplomatically. It is very important to have an appropriate behaviour. We should not irritate our great neighbour,” he stated.

Petru Lucinschi noted that the internal situation in Moldova is very tense and the competent institutions are obliged to enforce the law. “We can have assurances from outside, but, if we do not clarify things inside the county, we will solve nothing. We must ensure transparency and be more cautious. The authorities should anticipate certain things. When the law requires, we must be tough and strict,” he said.