Igor Corman: It can happen that all Moldova's citizens will obtain European passports before Moldova becomes EU member

“There are very clear arguments in favor of hastening the liberalization of the European visa regime for Moldova. A large part of the Moldovans are already in the Schengen area as they work there, while the other part have applied for Romanian nationality. It can happen that all Moldova's citizens will obtain European passports before Moldova becomes a member of the European Union,” MP Igor Corman, the chairman of the parliamentary commission for foreign policy and European integration, stated for Info-Prim Neo. Asked about the interparliamentary meeting on the parliamentary dimension to the Eastern Partnership, which he attended in Stockholm during October 20-22, Corman said the discussions centered on the institutional shaping of this parliamentary dimension. According to him, there are many models of cooperation between the European Parliament and other countries. “Euromed and EuroLat ensure the parliamentary cooperation between the EU and the countries situated on the Southern side of the Mediterranean Sea and, respectively, the Latin American countries.” The EU representatives have a joint stance on the parliamentary dimension to the Eastern Partnership. Some of them consider that this should be a powerful initiative as the countries covered by it are European even if they do not have clear European prospects. There are yet skeptics who consider that the existent institutions must be developed and there is no need to create new mechanisms and spend a lot of money. During the discussions in Stockholm, the participants agreed to set up a working group that will consist of representatives of the six countries included in the Eastern Partnership (Moldova, Ukraine, Georgia, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Armenia) and representatives of the EU, including delegates from Sweden and Poland as initiators of the Partnership, and from Spain, which will take over the presidency of the EU in 2010, and possible, a delegate from the UK. The working group will meet next year to analyze the proposals submitted at the meeting in Stockholm and to formulate concrete proposals. The representatives of the Eastern partners had the possibility of expressing their views at the meeting. All of them welcomed the Eastern Partnership Initiative. Yet, Ukraine said this should be a powerful parliamentary assembly with a well-organized secretariat and large financial resources from the EP, but Georgia opted for the express recognition of the European identity of the six countries. “The representative of Azerbaijan had a more evasive and superficial message, while the message of the delegate from Belarus was more pragmatic, centering on the economic aspects of the cooperation. I emphasized that Moldova takes part in all the Southeastern European initiatives and organizations, is near all the countries of the region and is in the process of signing a new association agreement with the EU,” the MP said. Hoover, according to Corman, Moldova, must concentrate all its efforts on the bilateral relations with the EU, adopt a paradigmatic attitude and pursue its own interests. Asked what form of institutionalization of the Eastern Partnership he supports, Corman said that this issue will be discussed by the Parliament of Moldova, but he personally considers the organizations should not be created for the sake of organizations. “The Eastern Partnership is a step forward in the neighborhood policy. The Eastern partners want larger financial resources than the European budget can offer, but it is a joint strategy for helping the given countries develop the regional cooperation first of all. The situation and contexts in the six countries are different, but we hope that Moldova will make faster progress on the path to European integration,” Igor Corman said.