The European Union is a partner of Moldova that is alongside and that will demand that the assumed commitments should be fulfilled. This is also seen in all the EU’s recent reactions, Head of the EU Delegation to Moldova Peter Michalko stated in an interview for TVR Moldova, which is quoted by IPN.
“Each day we should think about new cooperation possibilities based on the respect for the assumed commitments and this is first of all the expectation of the citizens of the Republic of Moldova,” stated the European official. Peter Michalko noted Brussels and all the capitals of the EU member states devote a lot of attention to the developments in the Republic of Moldova and this didn’t start now. It is a longer process that started when the situation required attention. “The introduction of political preconditions was a consequence of this attention and of the understanding of the realities in the Republic of Moldova both in the European institutions and in the member states. I want to note that the foreign affairs ministers of the member states in the last July meeting discussed the situation in the Eastern Partnership and expressed their concern about their situation in the Republic of Moldova,” stated the official.
Peter Michalko also said that the stopping of the first tranche of the macro-financial assistance was a consequence of the non-fulfilment of the preconditions for disbursing this tranche that were undertaken by Moldova by the memorandum of understanding of last November. Article 14 of the document clearly stipulates that the democratic standards, the rule of law and human rights should be observed. “Regrettably, the non-validation of the mayoral elections in Chisinau municipality that was done in a non-transparent way is an unprecedented measure. Such a precedent hasn’t been witnessed in the electoral history of the Republic of Moldova. This is in contradiction to that commitment signed last November and the reactions on the part of the European Union institutions and the member states derive from here,” said the diplomat.
“Our relationship is not about money and assistance. Our relations should be based on values that are common - the European values that should be respected. This is what we, those from the European Union, want. But the citizens of the Republic of Moldova also want to live in a society where these values are a reality. That’s why the respect for these values should be a priority,” noted Peter Michalko. According to him, even if the first tranche of the macro-financial assistance was suspended, there are yet over 150 projects under implementation in different regions of Moldova, aimed at supporting the people.
The official said all the democratic standards should be observed in the upcoming parliamentary elections so that the elections are free and fair and these should be observed not only on the election day, but also in the election campaign so that the rights of the candidates and voters, the candidate’s access to the mass media and equal conditions for all the candidates are ensured.
