The Republic of Moldova needs to study the case of Cyprus that joined the European Union despite a territorial conflict, said security expert Andrei Curăraru. According to him, the Transnistrian dispute should not hamper the Europeanization of the Republic of Moldova. The modernization and Europeanization of the right bank of the Nistru will attract the citizens from the left side of the Nistru, who will want higher living standards. In the same connection, the leader of the Coalition for Unity and Wellbeing (CUB) Igor Munteanu said the Republic of Moldova will soon obtain a clear response as to the eventual start of the accession negotiations, IPN reports.
The CUB leader said that the European Union’s decision to offer Moldova and Ukraine the EU candidate status is a geopolitical option influenced by Russia’s war of aggression. The decision to open the accession negotiations will be political and will be determined by the option of each member state.
“We already saw bad signals that I hope will not affect the Republic of Moldova. I refer to the famous statement of Victor Orban, who said that he needs time for reflection in the case of Ukraine. Will we also be affected? We will see soon to what extent other states have justified or less justified pretentions. The fact that heads of state come to Chisinau is a positive sign as we must become involved in assiduous work so as to maintain the interest in the Republic of Moldova. In 2022, we were put on a train built in response to the Russian military invasion. And we should not forget this. If we put some medals at chest, this won’t help us. It’s clear that it was a geopolitical option,” Igor Munteanu stated in the program “Emphasis on Today” TVR Moldova channel.
Earlier, President Maia Sandu said the Republic of Moldova could join the EU in two steps, initially without the Transnistrian region. Security expert Andrei Curăraru said that Moldova can learn from Cyprus’s experience in this regard.
“We cannot use the Transnistrian region as a pretext for not modernizing and Europeanizing the country. We saw that Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen both mentioned the example of Cyprus, which we should study. In the case of Cyprus, Cypriot Turks were admitted to the negotiations as observers, but they refused to apply the European Union’s plan. That’s why the European legislation is not applied in the Turkish part of Cyprus. But the citizens who recognize the Greek-Cypriot authorities have European passports. Such a precedent should be used to the maximum. The Europeanization of the Republic of Moldova will be a magnet that will attract the citizens from left side of the Nistru as a European state is a state with a higher average salary, with higher stability of the national currency, with travel, work and study opportunities. I think this is exactly what the citizens from the left side of the Nistru want,” stated Andrei Curăraru.
On November 8, the European Commission recommended the member states to open accession negotiations with Moldova and Ukraine. A final decision as to the initiation of negotiations will be taken in the European Council’s meeting that will take place in Brussels on December 14-15.
