Chisinau still has a long way ahead of it, before acceding to the EU and Bucharest's role in this process is that of a lobbyist in Brussels and a doctor, helping its Eastern neighbor heal from decades of communist regime, said participants in the debate ‘'The Republic of Moldova, between the eternal neighborliness and the European integration," attended by politicians from both states.
‘I foresee a long and painful reform in Chisnau. In the summer of 1989, Moldova was ahead of Ceausescu's Romania in terms of democratization and transparency. Bucharest was being kept in the dark, while Chisinau had opened up a window towards the world. I believe that from that moment on, the situation started to worsen and the Republic of Moldova is today the story of a failure,' former foreign minister Adrian Cioroianu said.
He also said that although no one could doubt the fact that Moldova was a part of Europe, its EU accession premises were unfavorable.' ‘(...) I believe that if anyone has done anything, over the past few years, in support of the Republic of Moldova, that hasn't been Chisinau, but Brussels. Mr. Voronin became president by supporting the idea of a union between Russia and Belarus and later, in 2005, took over this programme proposed by the opposition, namely, getting closer to the EU. Voronin was able to talk about Europe with Russia's consent, on the condition that his public speech be constantly directed against Romania,' Cioroianu said.
Expert in international relations, Dan Dungaciu said he wasn't expected Moldova to accede to the EU sooner than 12 years, given that Brussels is currently opposing the community's enlargement. ‘If Moldova starts to negotiate the Accession accord with the EU in 2010 (set for January 12, 2010, edt's note), and if this accord is signed (...) it will take another 12 years until the full integration, and only in happy circumstances as was the case of Romania, at a time when Brussels wanted the enlargement. Now, it doesn't want it. It will probably reconsider its decision in 10-15 years, but that means that the Republic of Moldova has to wait for at least 12 more years,' Dungaciu explained.
In his turn, Moldovan MP Oleg Serebrian, said that Moldova was facing a feeling of economic, demographic and moral failure. The most serious is the last one, because no one believes in the country's future. ‘Moldova's problem is that it has two very strong neighbors: the EU, that does too little, and Russia, that des too much. While Russia's involvement is too deep, EU's involvement is too slight,' Serebrian said.
In his opinion, Moldova is the one responsible for the country's delayed EU accession, and pointed out that the country did not manage to make friends inside the EU and have strong lobby in Brussels. ‘We need a strong relation with Germany, with the Baltic countries, our natural allies, because we suffer the consequences of the ruling of the same empire.We should also strengthen our ties with Poland, because it plays an essential role in the nearing of the two parts of Europe - the Western Europe and the Europe outside the political Europe - and, undoubtedly, with Romania,' Serebrian said.
He also said Romania did not have to play the role of a lawyer, but that of a doctor in its relation with Moldova, as his country ‘needed to be treated of 20 years of communist and pseudo- communist ruling.' ‘We are still prisoners of these consequences and we can overcome them with Romania's moral, political and economic support,' Serebrian explained.
In his turn, Ion Bulei, director of the Bucharest Institute of Political Sciences and International Relations, said that starting 1918, the Romanian political elite had an insecure approach in matters related to Bessarabia.
Moldovan deputy PM Ion Negrei raised the issue of ‘whether Moldova will stay at the border of the civilized world or accede to that world through its EU integration.' ‘At a certain point, both countries, Romania and Moldova, started off together, but their path separated at a certain point and today we find Romania in the EU and Moldova outside it,' Negrei said.
The debate, staged by the European Institute and the Bucharest Institute of Political Sciences and International Relations, was held several days after the visit of the Moldovan PM Vlad Filat to Romania, seen as the moment when relations between Chisinau and Bucharest have been re-launched.
source: Financiarul
