Diplomatic feud between Moldova and Romania was Moldova’s most pressing issue in 2007, survey

The tense diplomatic relations between Romania and Moldova was the issue that aroused most controversy among the Moldovan society in 2007, say the authors of the analytical study titled “100 most pressing issues of Moldova in 2007”, made public on Tuesday, January 15, in Chisinau. According to the study’s authors, the relationship between Romania and Moldova has been marked by the anti-Romania statements of President Vladimir Voronin, which seemed to echo the Soviet period and the lines of the Communist Party of the Socialist Moldavia. The experts forecast that in the immediately following period the “post-accession shock” will de-escalate. However, this repose might not last long; it depends on how the Moldovan authorities will react to the initiative of Romania’s President Traian Basescu to issue visas to Moldovan citizens at the border. The second problem by intensity, as the study’s authors consider, is inflation as a setback to economic growth. The experts predict that this year inflation pressures will remain high, with the boost in energy prices expected to be the most worrying one. Another factor is the gradual wage hike promised to government-paid employees. Among the most pressing issues, the study names the vulnerability of the judiciary to political interests, Moldova’s unpredictability in its relations with the EU, the visa regime with Romania, excessive government intervention in economic activities, and other. The study is the result of a research conducted over a period of one year by the experts of IDIS Viitorul with the support of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.