Moldova’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Nicu Popescu says he will travel to Moscow in early September to prepare a recently announced visit by prime minister Maia Sandu. According to the minister, the agenda has not been discussed yet, but unlocking exports of predominantly agricultural products from Moldova to the Russian market will be a priority. Authorities want to re-establish economic ties with Moscow without harming those with the European Union. In a Radio Free Europe interview, Minister Popescu gave assurances that Eurasian integration is not on the table, IPN reports.
“As for the relationship of the Republic of Moldova with the Russian Federation, it is in the interest of the Republic of Moldova to normalize this relationship, so that Moldova can export more to the Russian Federation market, because exports to any market - to Russia, Ukraine, China, Georgia, Turkey - create jobs and people get paid. Moldova presses ahead with the European integration agenda while seeking a healthy and calm relationship with the Russian Federation. But Moldova will not engage in political integration into any post-Soviet structures, with whom we want cooperation. Under no circumstances is the Eurasian Union a foreign policy objective of Moldova. Good relations with the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Belarus are important objectives for foreign policy, but the Republic of Moldova does not want to integrate with these states or with some post-Soviet organizations, including the Eurasian Economic Union. The sole objective of integration of the Republic of Moldova remains the European Union”, said the head of the Moldovan diplomacy.
Asked about the role of the Transnistrian settlement in the Chisinau-Moscow dialogue, Nicu Popescu said that this is a very sensitive topic for the public opinion in Moldova, for the political parties and for all the citizens of Moldova. According to the minister, there is no national consensus on the ways of settling the Transnistrian conflict, yet there is a strong preference among citizens for the authorities not to pursue federalization. “A policy of small steps is put into practice, so that we can build more bridges between the two banks of the Nistru River, yet there is no common ground among citizens of Moldova regarding how they would like to see the Transnistrian issue settled and that is why the current government is not rushing to take quick steps in the direction of solving the Transnistrian conflict, because our society does not know yet on what principles to base the conflict solution, except for the principle of territorial integrity of the Republic Moldova,” says the minister.
On a different subject, the minister spoke about the relaunch and unfreezing of foreign assistance to Moldova. According to him, “the former government declared itself pro-Western, but due to domestic politics, corruption and anti-democratic abuses, the Republic of Moldova was in isolation from the West.” “We were witnessing a false pro-Westernism and pro-Europeanism. We, in a two month period, reopened the doors and restarted the dialogue with the European Union and Washington, restored financing, re-established high-level contacts with the European Commission, with Chancellor Merkel and with Romania, thus the relationship between Moldova and the West, the United States and the European Union is better than it was 3-4 months ago or a year ago,” says Nicu Popescu.
The minister stated that much of the assistance has already come or is coming up in the following days and weeks. There are conditions imposed on Moldova as a country, yet the European Union and other international donors have the confidence that this government will fulfill these conditions, including conditions related to democratization and making public spending more transparent.
Nicu Popescu said he was going to visit Bucharest again at the end of August, where he was invited to attend the Conference of the Romanian ambassadors. The minister was sure that during his time in office, the Iași-Chisinau gas pipeline will be inaugurated. “Basically, I check what is the situation not only with the construction of the gas pipeline, but also with the preparation of the land for the construction of the pipeline on a daily basis. A few weeks ago, works on seven sections have started in order to prepare the ground for the pipeline construction, thought there were some complications inherited from the former government regarding imports of pipes to Moldova,” says the minister. According to him, other topics discussed with the Romanian side will include the elimination of roaming surcharges, as well as the modernization of road and rail infrastructure, etc.
