Meeting of Filat and EU and U.S. Ambassadors shows Russia that Moldova is not alone

The meeting of Prime Minister Vlad Filat and the Ambassadors of the EU Member States and the United States shows Russia that Moldova is not alone as it has partners in the West that should not be neglected, political analyst Anatol Taranu has told Info-Prim Neo. “This meeting held after the visit of Rogozin (the special representative of the President of Russia for Transnistria - e.n.) to Chisinau is possibly not accidental. In the meeting with the Premier, Rogozin was very lapidary, but he was much more vocal in Tiraspol, where he stated a series of positions that alarmed the official Chisinau. I consider that the Prime Minister asked for support from the EU and the U.S.,” said the analyst. In a communiqué, the Government says that the April 18 meeting was a traditional one. “There are annual meetings of the Moldovan officials and our ambassadors abroad, which are usually held in August. As to the meetings with foreign ambassadors, there is no particular time when they take place. They are a tradition themselves. I think the traditional character was invoked in order to hide who put forward the initiative to meet. I consider it was the Prime Minister who suggested it,” stated Anatol Taranu. He believes that a pretext for staging such a meeting was the fact that Moldova needs consistent assistance from the West in the European integration process and it’s not excluded that if the request was made by the Premier, he wanted to determine certain aspects of the cooptation with the EU and the U.S. The meeting with the ambassadors also involved Foreign Minister Iurie Leanca and the Premier’s adviser on foreign policy matters Victor Chirila. “The head of state has foreign policy powers that are guaranteed by the Constitution, but the implementation of the foreign policy objectives is within the competence of the Foreign Ministry and thus the Government. The President already had meetings with foreign officials and plans to go on visits aboard,” Anatol Taranu said when asked why the meeting with the ambassadors wasn’t called by the head of state. The analyst believes it’s good that Nicolae Timofti does not become fully involved in the foreign policy as he and his team need time to gain the necessary experience. Furthermore, the President does not yet have an adviser on foreign policy. According to a communiqué from the Government, in the meeting the Premier took stock of the latest events that took place in Moldova. There were discussed aspects of the implementation of the European agenda and the current stage of the Transnistrian conflict settlement process. In this connection, Vlad Filat stressed that Moldova fulfils the assumed commitments in strict compliance with the agreed agenda and expressed his conviction that the set objectives will be achieved, while the path to European integration will very soon become irreversible for Moldova.