Moldova seeks EU's help to normalize ties with Romania
The Moldovan government has called on the EU to act as a mediator in solving problems with Romania.
In a statement issued today, the Moldovan government "expresses deep concern over Romania's more active involvement in Moldova's domestic affairs".
"Despite the fact that Moldovan-Romanian relations have significantly worsened as a result of the statements made and actions taken by the Romanian authorities, the Republic of Moldova has been trying to take all possible measures to prevent a further escalation of tension. For this purpose, Moldova has been regularly informing its foreign partners about Romania's unfriendly actions towards Moldova," the statement said.
"Lately, the Romanian authorities have not even found it necessary to at least formally conceal their plans and allowed themselves to openly speak about their genuine intentions," the statement said.
"It is impossible to ignore statements by Romania's top leaders about their open support for Moldovan opposition political forces and about their preferences for certain forces which they would like to bring to power in Moldova," the government said in its statement.
The government called on the EU "to give an objective assessment of the statements and actions by the state which is a member of the European Union", as well as support Chisinau's efforts "to normalize relations with Romania and [oblige] the EU member state to respect Moldova's sovereignty and territorial integrity".
In its statement, the Moldovan government drew the EU's attention to the fact that "Romania has deliberately bureaucratized the procedure of issuing EU visas, thus, forcing Moldovan citizens to obtain Romanian passports".
"Meanwhile, it is symptomatic that on 7 July the Romanian president [Traian Basescu] said that, according to his estimates, about 2m citizens of the Republic of Moldova would receive Romanian citizenship in the near future," the government said.
In the same statement, Chisinau called on Bucharest to sign a border agreement and a political treaty with Moldova, saying that this "would contribute to solving the problems, in particular those related to visas and citizenship, and would put an end to Romania's interference in Moldova's domestic affairs".
Romanian President Traian Basescu has recently stated that Bucharest cannot sign a border treaty with Moldova as it would legitimize the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact.
"Given everything stated above, the Moldovan government calls on its partners to assess the statements and actions by Romania, which regularly interferes in Moldova's domestic affairs," the statement said.
In its statement, the government also called on the EU to set up a commission to mediate the settlement of Moldovan-Romanian relations.
On 15 July, Moldova's acting President Vladimir Voronin told a news conference that "it is impossible to solve any problems with Romania's present leadership, therefore Moldova intends to ask the EU for assistance".
Comments