The Republic of Moldova will never manage to obtain the status of accession candidate of the EU if the government does not show ability to fight against corruption and to intervene in the critical areas, Prime Minister Iurie Leanca said in the program “Shadow Cabinet” on Jurnal TV channel, IPN reports.

Iurie Leanca stated that the phenomenon of corruption keeps the potential European investors away. The fact that the EU allocated €60 million for reforming the justice sector shows that the pressure exerted by the European officials will increase if the Moldovan government does not cope with the requirements and does not implement the initiated reform. “We took a not at all popular decision to raise the salaries of judges, but this enables us to use the whip if they do not obey the reform provisions. The fact that the Europeans offer this money means that we will have to obey certain conditions and will be further monitored,” said the Premier.

He also said that the problems faced by Banca de Economii are due to the effects of corruption. Nine criminal cases over the situation at the bank have been sent to court.

Romanian sociologist Dan Dungaciu said that if Ukraine does not sign the Association Agreement with the EU in Vilnius, this will affect Moldova. “The expectations should not be too great. The post-Vilnius scenario will be much more difficult for Moldova, while the liberalization of the visa regime will be a harder task as Moldova is a member of the Eastern Partnership, whose duty is to keep the member states outside the EU not to bring them inside,” he stated.

According to Dan Dungaciu, Moldova must renounce the status of EaP member state if it wants to cover its European course till the end, while politicians’ attitude should change if they really want the Moldovan people to become EU citizens.