The pan-European parties European People’s Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe deplored the deterioration of the rule of law and Democratic standards in Moldova and requested to suspend the EU funds for Moldova in a joint statement on the mixed-member electoral system, expert in political sciences Dionis Cenusa says in an opinion article for IPN News Agency.

The parties demand to stop any European funding, not only the €100,000 in macro-financial assistance that was already compromised by violating the political pre-conditions related to the adoption of the mixed system, wrote the expert.

He considers the halt in all kinds of financing would affect a series of sector reforms, such as rural development and agriculture, vocational education and energy sector, and the EU’s efforts to promote the benefits of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement, including the support for the commitments related to the visa-free regime with the EU.

Such an eventual decision would mean that the Association Agreement is to be put on stand-by. This approach is extremely radical and can affect the EU’s interests in Moldova, noted Dionis Cenusa.

“The halt in all kinds of financing by the EU would be a powerful blow to the legitimacy of the Democrats and to the whole reform process, the latter being harmful to the EU’s objectives in Moldova,” wrote the expert, underlining that the making of the conditionality elements harsher and freezing of the macro-financial assistance should be among the EU’s main options.