Nicolae Dabija: The current government has one mission – to make European integration irreversible

[Info-Prim Neo poll from the Series “Moldova-20! Whereto?”] [ – Do you share the opinion that Moldova's pro-European orientation should be stipulated in the Constitution so as to guarantee the continuation of the country's modernization? Is there a risk that this process could be disrupted if the Constitution doesn't acquire such an amendment?] – It's not the economic gap between Moldova and Europe that should scare us, but rather the mentality gap. If Moldova's European orientation is postulated in the Constitution, this will help our citizens consider themselves closer to Europa than to Asia, this being an additional guarantee that a potential pro-Asian government that could take power in Moldova would not diverge from the established course. Such a risk will always exist. The current government has one mission – to make everything so that European integration processes become irreversible. Only then can it retreat to opposition. [ – Should the Constitution be amended by Parliament or in a referendum? Do you think the amendment would enjoy the support of the entire Moldovan political elite, including the current opposition, and of society?] – The Communists today are what they were yesterday – they still see a dreadful enemy in the European Union countries. Eight in ten Moldovans want to get into the EU and this is why the current opposition will pretend to want the same as well, but in fact they will do everything to not let this happen. Now that Moldova has oriented itself towards the EU, I see the Communists like a horseman riding the horse backwards – they have their own priorities and regrets for the past. So such an amendment can only appear as a result of a referendum. [ – How would such an amendment influence the Transnistrian conflict settlement?] – The key to the resolution of the Transnistrian settlement is in Moscow, the place where Moldova's separation had been conceived. Moldova could join the EU like Cyprus: with its part that is free from foreign armies and suspicions of terrorism. Then, eventually, with help from international organizations, it could restore its integrity. [Mariana Galben, Info-Prim Neo] {[Info-Prim Neo Note:] More details as regards the guaranteeing of the irreversibility of the process of the country’s modernization can be found in part I of the analysis “Moldova without internal enemies” that was published on August 1, and in part II that was published on August 9, 2011.}