Traian Basescu considers signing of border treaty between Moldova and Romania as useless

Romania’s President Traian Basescu considers that the signing of a border treaty between Moldova and Romania is useless and describes it as a condition imposed by the Moldovan authorities for signing a bilateral agreement on small-scale border traffic, Info-Prim Neo reports, quoting the website of Mediafax agency. At the opening of the Forum of Local Authorities of Moldova and Romania on Friday, Traian Basescu said that the reluctance and conditions imposed by the Moldovan government for signing the agreement on small-scale border traffic are inexplicable. “Unfortunately, the Republic of Moldova declares it will sign this agreement only after the border treaty is signed first. Who can imagine that a Romanian head of state will sign a treaty to approve of the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact? Only a mind that does not understand what responsibilities the president of Romania has. After 1990, Romania signed an agreement recognizing the border of the former Soviet Union. Moldova is a successor of this border. Therefore, I consider the signing of a border treaty that would make the head of the Romanian state a partner of the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact as useless,” Basescu said. In the same connection, Traian Basescu said that by introducing the visa regime for Romanian travelers, the Moldovan authorities infringed the agreement that exists between Moldova and the European Union. “Romania asked all the institutions of the EU to launch talks over a new agreement with Moldova, including facilitating the visa regime. Given that the human rights are violated and the position on Romania, this agreement will not be signed in a near future,” Basescu said. Speaking about the forum held in Piatra Neamt, Bssescu said that this is a way whereby the Romanians from the two banks of the Prut can know each other better and can decided what steps to take next. “It must be clear, regardless of the relations between the two governments. Romania will not stop promoting the idea that Moldova must form part of the European Union,” the Romanian president said. Basescu also said that a fruitful cooperation between the local administrations in Romania and Moldova can strengthen the historical relations between the people living on the two banks of the Prut. According to him, the difficulties that can appear can be overcome by direct talks, by ties between the people and the communities. Basescu said that the relations between Bucharest and Chisinau are tense, but voiced hope that the future government of Moldova will be more pragmatic and willing to facilitate the cooperation relations for the people’s benefit. At the end of his speech delivered in front of over 200 participants, about 80 of whom were mayors from Moldova, Basescu called on the Romanian authorities to access programs because the EU set a deadline for using the money, i.e. 2013. “I hope that this forum will become a tradition and we will meet next year again,” Băsescu stressed.