The best strategy for ensuring peace and security in the Republic of Moldova should center on diplomatic lines, with appropriate instruments and approaches. It is important to have reliable partners nearby, while the European integration should be the zero priority for the whole government team, the chairman of the European Social Democratic Party (PSDE) Ion Sula, ex-minister of agriculture and food industry, said in a public debate staged by IPN.
He noted it is important to realize that the European integration cannot be achieved by oneself. The government should organize the effort of all the players in the interests of the given desideratum. “The message should be conveyed to the citizens. Today the public space is full of disinformation. If no light is shed on this segment, there are big risks that forces hostile to the European integration will come after the next elections,” he stated.
Noting that a lot of work is to be done, the speaker said that half a year ago, the previous Government decided to create the posts of deputy secretary general for integration, but no ministry so far filled all the available posts. “I consider we should sound the alarm. We now have experts, professionals in the field in the Republic of Moldova. If the PAS does not have such experts, it should take these from elsewhere, not necessarily from our political team. The best ones should be engaged today so that we move on,” he stated.
The harmonization of the legislation is another objective, as is the extension of the list of products exported to the EU. “We want to invest, to produce, but do not think about export. The Russian market is no longer relevant for us. There are so many impediments even from logistics viewpoint. Almost nothing has been done the past one year and a half to develop our status,” noted Ion Sula.
The speaker approved of the fact that Moldova has friends and supporters in the European Parliament, while the conjuncture created by Russia’s war in Ukraine helped the country obtain the EU candidate status. “We should not have faults in the implementation of these conditions, but we have such relative to Georgia and Ukraine. We should be one step forward as we were in 2014-15-16... We were leaders at that time! They all asked us: where do you draw experience from? – there was will and they did”.
Ion Sula called on the political players to abandon the narrow interests. “We should focus on the future of the Republic of Moldova, on integration into the European Union,” he urged.
The public debate entitled “New Government’s capacity to select priorities and to cope with them” was the 274th installment of IPN’s project “Developing Political Culture through Public Debates” that is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
