Moldova faces a great security crisis determined by the developments in the region, the aggression in Crimea. On April 29, Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta said that he, as the deputy chairman of the Security Committee of Romania, in its next meeting will ask that all the Romanian institutions carry out an exact assessment of the situation and the cooperation possibilities with Moldova. The statements were made in a news conference held at the Sculeni customs post, in concert with Moldova’s Premier Iurie Leanca, IPN reports.
As regards the bilateral cooperation, the Romanian official said that large Romanian energy companies, in which the state holds majority holdings, plan to invest in the energy infrastructure in Moldova and in the gas and electricity interconnection infrastructure between Romania and Moldova. More bridges must be built over the Prut so that there are more border crossing points and congestions are avoided. The Border Police of Romania will help the Moldovan side to implement information technology so that the border crossing procedures last as short as possible.
Asked by the journalists if there is a risk that more Moldovans will leave the country now that the EU visa requirements were abolished, Prime Minister Iurie Leanca assured that there is no such a risk. “When the European Commission presented its conditions for liberalizing the visa regime, it carried out more than four studies and reached the conclusion that such an exodus is excluded. Moldova is neither the first nor the last country that goes through such processes. I’m convinced that more Moldovans who settled illegally abroad will return home,” he stated.
Iurie Leanca added he does not think that the Russian capital can affect Moldova’s European course and that the Free Trade Area with the EU, which will be created in the near future, can be influenced by such a presence.
On April 26, the Russian state bank “Vnesheconombank” purchased a holding of 24.9% in Banca de Economii (Savings Bank) on the Moldova Stock Exchange for 50.1 million lei. Commenting on this transaction, Iurie Leanca said the Government cannot intervene or ban such deals.
