Authorities must find solutions to reunify the country before Moldova joins the EU, says Foreign Minister
The Republic of Moldova has lost a lot of time in the process of accession to the European Union over the past 30 years, Nicu Popescu, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, told the national radio station's "360 degrees" programme. According to the official, this process has often been sabotaged and even slowed down by some governments.
"No government in the last 30 years has been able to turn Moldova in a direction other than European integration. They have been able to slow down this path, they have been able to sabotage, complicate, but they have not been able to turn the country in another direction. Our society does not want to live in Eurasia, our society wants to live in Europe. Regardless of geopolitical preferences, regardless of the language they speak at home, they want to live in a free country", said Nicu Popescu.
The process of accession to the European Union will take a few more years, and during this period the authorities must find a solution to the Transnistrian conflict, Nicu Popescu stressed.
"We want this conflict to be settled by peaceful means. The process of accession to the European Union will take a few more years and during this period we must find a solution that allows us to reintegrate the country or join the EU with further integration. We are obliged as a society, as a country, to make an effort", says the Moldovan official.
Moreover, Nicu Popescu says, in the last 10-15 years, the degree of exposure, of connection of the districts on the left bank of the Dniester river to the Republic of Moldova, to the European area, has increased through several actions. The Foreign Minister referred to the participation and registration of Transnistrian companies as legal entities in the Republic of Moldova, the reorientation of exports from the left bank of the Dniester to European markets. At the same time, Nicu Popescu reiterated that this region, like all citizens of the country, benefits from the Free Trade Agreement and can travel visa-free to the EU.
