The European Union didn’t annul the accession chance of the Eastern Partnership countries, former minister of foreign affairs of Romania, honorific adviser on relations with Moldova to Prime Minister Victor Ponta Titus Corlatean said in the talk show “European Horizon” on TVR Moldova channel, IPN reports.
“The eastern neighborhood policy of the EU is different from its enlargement policy. But there is also Article 49 of the EU Regulation, which allows every state from the continent to aspire to European integration. If the state makes considerable effort, makes progress and meets the standards imposed by the EU, it has all the chances,” stated the former minister.
As to the Riga Summit, Corlatean said there is disappointment both on the part of the EaP states and on the part of their partners from the EU. The critical threshold wasn’t reached in Riga for offering hope to these states.
Titus Corlatean said the EU should be more attentive to the effort made by the EaP countries. “These countries’ effort and results in doing reforms for becoming integrated into the EU have double value compared with the effort made by other states, of Central Europe. The fact that they are still powerfully influenced by Russia, which exerts pressure on them, should be taken into account,” he stated.
He considers that Moldova’s integration into the EU by union with Romania is now unachievable, as former President of Romania Traian Basescu stated recently. “Things are much more difficult. There is the problem of Transnistria and the Russian military contingent deployed on Moldova’s territory,” said the former minister.
Corlatean noted that an increasing number of Moldovans would like Moldova and Romania to unite. “Romania did a lot for Moldova. It invested in infrastructure, in social projects within which hospitals and nurseries were repaired. These things cannot remain unnoticed,” he stated.
