EU: Moldova, Europe’s poorest country, increases lag behind the second poorest state on the continent

The European Union is concerned about the fact that the lag between Moldova, the continent’s poorest state, and the next poorest state is enlarging, EU Special Representative for Moldova Kalman Mizsei stated in an interview with the Analitique newspaper. In his opinion, one of the causes of the situation is the unsettled Transnistrian conflict. EU observes Moldova’s situation from several points of view, but the most important aspect is in the fact that it is the poorest European state, Kalman Mizsei says. According to him, the GDP of Moldova together with Transnistria is similar to some African countries, and this is “a shame for all of us. 4 million people who live on this territory could have more freedom and wealth”, the EU official said. Kalman Mizsei mentioned that the EU qualifies the Transnistrian conflict as not very serious. “A lack of understanding is what we have here. Two parts of Moldova have been artificially separated for 15 years now, because there are no hostilities between the people living on the two banks of the Nistru River compared to other regions of the CIS. The fact that the conflict is not very serious makes us hope that it could be settled next year”, Mizsei said. He backed his statement by adding that Moldova resumed the dialogue with the Russian Federation and that there are no significant differences between the two sides and, therefore, a reciprocal solution is possible. The EU Permanent Representative agrees that at the moment the region is subjected to the political interests of Russia, Ukraine and the EU. “It is important that the leadership in Transnistria and Russia convince themselves that the best solution to the conflict is rebuilding confidence”. According to him, these parties are now closer to such a conclusion than yesterday. Asked whether EU can participate more actively in the settlement process of the Transnistrian conflict, Kalman Mizsei mentioned that year by year, the European Union makes more efforts in this direction: the dialogue with Moldova became more consistent, and we’re aiming to attract Transnistria in this dialogue, because “no bridges across the Nistru River can be rebuilt without it”. According to him, the EU also shows donors that Moldova is not just the right side of the Nistru River, drawing their attention to the inhabitants of the left bank as well. EU does much for the inhabitants of the Transnistrian region, the official says. According to him, the Metal Works in Rabnita exports to EU more than the entire right side of Moldova. The possibility that Transnistria’s companies, the privatisation of which is not recognised by the Moldovan Government, can enter the EU market represents a great support. Kalman Mizsei mentioned that he wants to convince the leaders of Transnistria – Litskai and Smirnov, to resume negotiations, because, although the current conflict settlement format includes all the interested parties of the region, no solution is possible without a negotiation process. Concerning the fact that the EU preserves travel restrictions on a range of Transnistrian officials, the EU representative said that restrictions are imposed when violations of human rights, democratic principles or provisions of International Law are ascertained. Once violations cease to exist, the restrictions are lifted. As one can observe, the restrictions are not imposed on the region, but on particular persons, Kalman Mizsei mentioned, quoted de Info-Prim Neo.