EU formulates exclusively its own policy with regards to Moldova, Dirk Schuebel

The European Union formulates exclusively its own policies with regards to Moldova, despite its dependence on such an important economic partner as Russia, stated the Head of the EU Delegation to Moldova, Dirk Schuebel, in an interview with Info-Prim Neo. Commenting on some analysts' opinion that the European Union pays too much attention to Russia's position when it formulates its policies with respect to the Republic of Moldova, Dirk Schuebel said: “First of all, Russia is an important political and economic player in the world and a very important partner of the European Union in this context. If you need one proof of this, we can refer to the gas conflict last year with Ukraine, where we have seen how dependent the European Union is on Russian gas. In this context, it is quite normal that we have such a close relationship with such an important partner as Russia. However, as the Head of the EU Delegation to Moldova, I can tell you that we are formulating our own, absolutely independent policy with regard to Moldova and how we want to cooperate with Moldova is the exclusive opinion of the European Union. Having said this, I can also tell you that I have established very close and intensive contacts with Russian Ambassador (to Moldova Valery) Kuzmin; we have regular meetings during which we exchange our views on certain aspects of the situation in the Republic of Moldova” Answering a similar question in an earlier interview with Info-Prim Neo, EU Special Representative to Moldova Kalman Mizsei said: “This is a weird question if you allow me to say this. I am representing an agreed position of the EU member states and I work under the guidance of the European Union High Representative, Javier Solana until recently and Lady Ashton now. How can I mediate between myself and someone else? Perhaps you should think hard when calling “analysts” those who come up with these weird ideas. We are very proud of the role we have been playing both, in the Transnistrian settlement process as well as in protecting democratic values in right bank Moldova. This place would be different without our very intensive engagement in the last period, particularly last year. Some people expect from us to make bombastic, one-sided statements rather than what we did, which is acting relentlessly for democratic procedures in Moldova. But what we do is called following democratic values. We should not pick the winners of the democratic process, but care for the quality of Moldovan democracy.” Speaking about the prospects of the Transnistrian conflict, Dirk Schuebel said they are difficult to predict. “I see some encouraging signs in that informal discussions in the 5+2 format have been started and in that a deputy prime minister responsible for the Transnistrian conflict was appointed in the new government. We hope that official 5+2 talks will also be taken up soon. What we can do apart from actively participating as observers in the 5+2 negotiations is to work on confidence-building measures. And that’s what we are doing now – we have recently launched the second confidence-building package with Transnistria and I see my task to implement these confidence-building measures, of the first and the second package, as effectively as possible in order to help improve the lives of the Transnistrian population”. According to Dirk Schuebel, the second package includes cooperation with civil society; development of business, in particular training for the managers of small and medium-sized enterprises, the creation of business incubators; the creation of a Euroregion, comprising Vinitsa Oblast in Ukraine, the district of Soroca and the northern part of Transnistria; and the resolution of the railway issue.