In exchange for the financial assistance package of up to €600 million announced by the European Commission for the Republic of Moldova, the country should reform its justice sector and its public administration sector, said Romanian MEP Siegfried Mureșan. According to the official, the proper conduct of the July 11 snap parliamentary elections is priority zero for unlocking the financial assistance offered by the European community, IPN reports.

The head of the European Parliament’s Delegation for relations with the Republic Moldova, Siegfried Mureșan, said the commitments that the Republic of Moldova will have to fulfill for obtaining financial assistance are not new. The European Union insists on the independence of the judiciary and the fight against corruption.

“It is the largest package of economic assistance offered ever to the Republic of Moldova by the European Union. It’s simple: the Republic of Moldova is expected to ensure a fair, correct judiciary that would pass the same judgments for everyone; transparent, competent public administration for the people’s benefit. It is important to name a pro-European Government that would immediately start work after the July 11 elections,” Siegfried Mureșan stated in the talk show “In Depth” on ProTV Chisinau.

According to the official, by the announcement of the conditional allocation of money, the European community didn’t aim to influence the preferences of voters before the snap parliamentary elections.

“It does not have a direct connection with the elections. When we started work on this package, at the end of January, we didn’t know that snap elections will be held in the Republic of Moldova and didn’t know when these will take place,” said the Romanian MEP.

Two days ago, the European Commission announced a financial assistance package of up to €600 million for the economic recovery of the Republic of Moldova for 2021-2024.