“I remember well the start of our activity. There was a lot of skepticism and distrust in the European integration of Moldova. In time, we coped with the commitments made at internal level and to the foreign partners. Now, not only the political class, but also the entire society must contribute to the step that are to be taken further,” said the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party Vlad Filat. The politician took part in the debate “Moldovan society and the political class after Vilnius: between cooperation and confrontation”, staged by IPN News Agency.
According to Vlad Filat, at the Vilnius Summit, the EU showed exemplary unity as regards the Eastern Partnership. “I think the policy on the partnership will be more consolidated and more efficient. Besides the initialing of the Association Agreement and the clear prospect of obtaining a liberalized visa regime, Moldova at the Summit won one more victory. We witnessed an example of unprecedented support from the EU. Absolutely all the delegations spoke with sympathy about Moldova, and this is the result of the work we did,” he stated.
The Liberal-Democratic leader is sure that Moldova has no other alternative than the European course. “In these four years after the Communist rule, we went through a difficult period from all angles. There was a period when we didn’t have a head of state. There was a permanent political crisis, a failed referendum, early elections, local elections and many internal conflicts in the ruling alliance. Drawing a line, we can say that when decisions were required, correct decisions were taken so as to ensure the continuity of this process,” he said.
As to the spring events, when the Government headed by him was dismissed, Vlad Filat said the decision to form a government coalition, neglecting the personal and party interests, was right. “If we had acted in a different way, today we wouldn’t have spoken about Vilnius and the liberalization of the visa regime. We would have been in the middle of an electoral process that would have determined Moldova’s course. This objective that made us go together will help the coalition to complete its mandate and this means the signing of the accords and their ratification so that they take effect by the next elections. We have a big advantage before those who are against the European integration process,” added Vlad Filat.
The politician underlined that there are 23 official languages in the EU and the leaders of the countries insist on speaking their language. “They speak 23 different languages, but listen to each other and hear each other. We speak the same language, but still have to learn to listen to and hear each other. I said on other occasions too that I’m incurably sick with Euro-optimism. There is a critical mass of people who will make this course irreversible. The European integration process is continuous and it continues after the accession. We must be prepared from all aspects to cope with this process that envisions full transparency in governance. Before initialing the accord, there were launched many actions of cooperation with civil society. I promise that the process will be more dynamic and the role of civil society will be more important,” said the politician. “After the Vilnius Summit, life goes on and it will go on after the elections too. The fight against corruption must be durable and efficient. We must have European legislation and independent institutions, while governance must be efficiently controlled.”
The public debate “Moldovan society and the political class after Vilnius: between cooperation and confrontation” is the 24th of the series “Development of political culture by public debates”. The IPN project is supported by the German foundation “Hanns Seidel”.
