The European Union and Romania were always ready to lend a hand to the Republic of Moldova, including for a multitude of projects for the direct benefit of the citizens and consistent non-reimbursable amounts. These were all offered for helping the Republic of Moldova become a better space, a better, more democratic and more stable country so that the citizens generally know the benefits of joining the European area, Romania’s Ambassador to Moldova Daniel Ioniță stated in a video interview for IPN News Agency.
“Romania is part of the European Union. So, when you speak about the Republic of Moldova’s relations with the European Union, you should implicitly refer to the Republic of Moldova’s relations with Romania, which is a component part of the EU. It is not something distinct and I think this is also true about the multiple projects implemented by the Republic of Moldova together with the whole European community,” noted the ambassador.
According to him, the EU is currently Moldova’s main economic partner. About 65-70% of the bilateral trade of the Republic of Moldova is aimed at the EU and Romania accounts for a significant part of this figure. “Romania is the main commercial partner of the Republic of Moldova. I expect with interest this year’s figures, but last year our commercial exchanges exceeded US$ 2.2 billion in both directions, imports and exports. This is over twice more than in 2016, when I took over,” stated Daniel Ioniță.
He noted these developments are mainly due to the fact that Moldova started to apply the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement correctly and for its benefit and in full respect for the European norms. And the Republic of Moldova fully benefitted from the concessions provided by the Association Agreement with the EU. The decisions to liberalize the visa regime for Moldovans taken five years ago also contributed considerably to these data.
“Looking retrospectively, one can evidently hear a lot of criticism about the EU, especially on this bank of the Prut, in the Republic of Moldova. “What do these want from us?” – as the good side is always forgotten in such a story. Maybe the citizens from the Republic of Moldova forgot too swiftly about the fact that six years ago they had to humiliate themselves at consulates to apply for a visa so as to travel to the EU. Now they easily travel to the EU only with the passport in their pocket. One can stay there for up to six months a year, to work, to travel and to do what one consider necessary.”
According to the Romanian diplomat, the EU in time allocated consistent, non-reimbursable sums of money – the macro-financial assistance provided generously by the EU during the past few years represents non-reimbursable funds. The EU member states, in particular Romania, implemented a series of social projects for the benefit of the Moldovan citizens. “The kindergartens already became a registered mark for Romania as over 930 kindergartens were renovated in the Republic of Moldova with money from the Government of Romania. But many other projects were possible with EU funds. There are states that undertook to support whole areas of activity: agriculture, freedom of the media, basic rights and freedoms,” stated Daniel Ioniță.
The video interview given to the IPN News Agency by Romania’s Ambassador to Moldova Daniel Ioniță forms part of the series of debates “The Republic of Moldova’s relations with the development partners” that is supported by the German foundation “Hans Seiddel”.
