In the context of the war in Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova clearly took sides with the democratic world and trenchantly condemned the Russian military aggression, PAS MP Oazu Nantoi stated in a public debate hosted by IPN. According to the MP, the efficient management of the refugee crisis and the firm messages of the country’s leadership with regard to the military invasion of Ukraine showed that the Republic of Moldova is a civilized state that deserves to be part of the European community.
The MP said that hundreds of persons who hold the nationality of the Republic of Moldova fight in Ukraine against the Russian aggression and thousands of citizens of the country contributed to the proper management of the refugee crisis. These actions clearly show that society is on the democratic world’s side.
“I know that about 600 persons with the nationality of the Republic of Moldova, with experience gained in the French Legion, in Afghanistan, from the left side of the Nistru expressed their readiness to fight for Ukraine against the Russian aggressor. This is a clear manifestation of the attitude to this war. Back in 2021, the state institutions of the Republic of Moldova designed scenarios and made preparations for coping with those scenarios. I note that it doesn’t come to the scenario of a Russian invasion as we are unprotected from this viewpoint. But we started to prepare for scenarios related to the energy crisis, the refugee crisis and those preparations contributed to a prompt reaction on the part of the state. The refugee crisis showed that the state cannot do much without the involvement of the citizens,” stated Oazu Nantoi.
According to the MP, the regional context is favorable for opening accession negotiations with the EU as the war in Ukraine strengthened the conviction of the European community that the Republic of Moldova deserves accession perspectives.
“We cannot categorically say that we renounce the Russian gas, the electricity produced from the Russian gas as we are too vulnerable. We have the burden of the left bank and some of the companies of the Republic of Moldova can be involved in different schemes to bypass the sanctions to which Russia is subjected. But this is not the conscious policy of the state and this shows the weaknesses of the state,” said Oazu Nantoi, noting that the opening of accession negotiations, the economic development and modernization of the Republic of Moldova will have positive effects on Ukraine as well.
“We showed that we are a civilized state when we experienced the refugee crises. From political viewpoint, we support Ukraine and took sides with the democratic world and, respectively, the democratic world offers us multilateral assistance with which we overcame the crisis last winter. Owing to this assistance, we see the unprecedented partnership with Romania through infrastructure connections. It is a process from which the Republic of Moldova’s European perspective stands to gain on condition that the Russian aggressor is beaten in Ukraine and our possibilities of offering assistance to Ukraine not only in the refugee crisis, but also at other levels will also increase.”
The public debate entitled “Moldova between Ukraine and Russia” was the 290th installment of IPN’s project “Developing Political Culture through Public Debates” that is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
