The relations between Moldovan and the European Union will not be affected by the situation created around the Iranian ships registered under the Moldovan flag. The statement made for Info-Prim Neo by conflict resolution expert Andrei Iovu. The analyst believes that all the EU can do is to give Moldova a series of recommendations on how to improve the procedure of offering navigation licenses under the Moldovan flag. “We don’t have experience in certifying ships for circulation under our flag. We have some loopholes, an excessively open approach, and other states make use of it”, mentioned Andrei Iovu. The expert says that it is not an isolated case for Moldova. “I don’t think there are any malevolent interests; most likely everything happens due to lack of experience”, the analyst specified. Moldovan authorities have confirmed that 12 Iranian ships had been registered under the flag of Moldova in months May-July, current year, but their license was revoked after it was discovered that the ships were under West’s sanctions against Iran. The statement was made after a Maltese media source said that Moldova accepts ships that transport petrol from Iran, thus helping the latter to circumvent the embargo set by the EU. According to the Maltese source, at least 8 Iranian oil tankers had been registered under the Moldovan flag, and the registration port was the Giurgiulesti port on the Danube. The European Union embargo on Iranian petroleum imports became effective on July 1. According to the agreement, the import of Iranian crude oil is completely forbidden to the EU member states.