“The Association Agreement will lead to Moldova’s loss of sovereignty”, “The Association Agreement will further enflame Russia-Moldova relations”, “Consumer prices will increase as a result of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area”. These are only some of the most spread hypotheses about the Association Agreement with the European Union. Are they true theories or just myths? IPN aimed to find out the answer from a number of independent experts and officials working in the addressed areas.
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"Not applying the Association Agreement in the Transnistrian region would further divide the country"
Expert of the Institute for Development and Social Initiative “Viitorul” Eduard Tugui said the given assertion represents one of the few ‘veritable myths’ about the Association Agreement, which means that it is true only partially. Other assertions, like those that we will be converted to Catholicism, are ordinary lies.
“The assertion that the non-implementation of the Association Agreement in the Transnistrian region would further divide the country is true only to the extent to which we accept than any international treaty or normative document applied in Moldova and not applied in Transnistria divides the two banks of the Nistru River. If the existence of the Republic of Moldova had been determined by such logic, we shouldn’t have had the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and other organic laws and normative acts that most of the times are not identical to those adopted by Tiraspol. Also, we shouldn’t have become members of the UN, the Council of Europe and the World Trade Organization,” stated the expert.
According to Eduard Tugui, the implementation of the Association Agreement, specifically Title V (Trade and other aspects related to trade), will ensure preconditions for sustainably developing Moldova, which can really become more attractive for the people from Transnistria. This fact refutes once again the aforementioned assertion. “The pressure sustained by the public finances in the Transnistrian region is already evident. If the Transnistrian administration continues to self-isolate the region, it’s not excluded that it will witness a surprise on the part of the people in the near future, who will find the European Moldova a much more safer place to live in,” added the expert.
On its website, the Delegation of the European Union to Moldova says the objective of the Association Agreement is to engage in political association and economic integration, which will benefit the entire, internationally recognized, territory of the Republic of Moldova; the EU has never excluded Transnistria from those prospects. The authorities of the Transnistrian region have been invited to join the negotiating process and to engage in discussions about the practical preparations for implementing the DCFTA in the best possible conditions, to the benefit of the region’s economy.
Alina Marin, IPN