Romania supports only Moldova’s European course without reservations, which is first of all based on the Association Agreement that the Republic of Moldova undertook in the relationship with the EU and that contains values and principles. Many of these values and principles should be respected as such. They are not negotiated and negotiable and should be respected accordingly: the rule of law, democracy, basic freedoms, respect for human rights, Romania’s Ambassador in Chisinau Daniel Ioniță stated in an interview for Radio Free Europe that is quoted by IPN.
“These are values in which we should all believe equally. These are values on which we can never have discounts. This is on the one hand. On the other hand, Romania said not only once that as long as the Republic of Moldova remains anchored into the path to democracy and will continue to follow the objective of integration into the European Union, we see no reasons for which the relations between Romania and the Republic of Moldova should suffer changes,” stated the ambassador.
According to Daniel Ioniță, the Free Trade Agreement that forms part of the Association Agreement contains also a series of obligations that Moldova assumed when it wanted to enjoy these excellent opportunities for developing trade with Western Europe. The positions stated in the EU represent and greatly reflect the opinions of Bucharest. Romania has acted in a solidary way with its allies and partners from the EU.
“We should not forget that this year, in February, common conclusions were presented, adopted by the Foreign Affairs Council that brings together the foreign ministers of all the European Union member states, who agreed the given conclusions between them, including criticism of particular results or failures witnessed in Chisinau and also references to the progress made by Chisinau in particular important areas,” stated the diplomat.
In another development, Daniel Ioniță said Romania on January 1, 2019 will take over the Council of the European Union, which is a great responsibility. All the preparations were made and people were already selected and are ready to do what they have to. There were launched all the technical procedures and a program was undertaken and presented successfully to the European Commission and the partners in the EU.
Romania’s motto as the President of the Council of the EU is “Cohesion, a common European value”. “We are thus effectively committed to contribute to increasing the cohesion with what this cohesion means – economic cohesion, social cohesion. We expect that during the Romanian Presidency we will witness very interesting developments at European level. So, it is a very big chance for the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union to go down in history by the decisions that will be taken in the period,” noted the ambassador.
