Moldova’s relationship with the European Union brings security support to our country even in the context of the war in Ukraine, but the issue should be addressed multidimensionally. The focus should remain on reforms, Dorina Baltag, EU diplomacy and foreign policy research fellow at the Institute for Diplomacy and International Governance in London, stated in a debate centering on the European Commission’s Questionnaire staged by IPN.
“This security support is already felt and we saw the support provided to Ukraine in connection with the war. This is something extraordinary. However, security should be perceived as something multidimensional. Currently, discussions in the public sphere are focused on this questionnaire and it is absolutely important for the Republic of Moldova to continue to do reforms according to the integration agenda and to inform the citizens and the development partners about the results of reforms,” said the researcher.
She noted it is important that the development partners speak not only about the evolutional effort and jump of the Republic of Moldova in the current context. It is essential for them to have no reason to say that the fundamental problems of the country persist: weak institutions, vulnerable economy, energy dependence, unprotected environment. If there are substantial developments in the areas of activity, the partners and advocates of the Republic of Moldova will be more predisposed to support the process of granting the status of candidate country at an accelerated pace.
Dorina Baltag said it is not clear if the EU will have more instruments or obligations to help Moldova as a candidate country if the Ukrainian scenario is applied by someone from outside in relation to Moldova too. It depends on how things develop in Ukraine, primarily in Odessa region, and also in the Transnistrian region.
The researcher considers Moldova can become a marionette state in case of a very unfavorable situation and it is not clear what the EU will do with such a state. “The obtaining of the status of candidate country usually takes three-four years. Therefore, I cannot say if the European Union will offer security guarantees to the Republic of Moldova or not. I think a normative security guarantee is to offer it this status as soon as possible. But there are many objective bureaucratic barriers deriving from the EU treaties as regards the obtaining of the status of candidate country,” said Dorina Baltag.
The public debate titled “EU Questionnaire: What it offers and what is asks instead, how are chances assessed inside and outside?” was the 237th installment of IPN’s project “Developing Political Culture through Public Debates” that is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
