Moscow is trying to destabilize Moldova, but the tiny former Soviet republic can join the EU by 2030 alongside its breakaway Transnistria region, despite the current presence of Russian troops, its president said.
The secret to solving Moldova’s separatist conflict would be to pursue economic reforms and fight corruption.
That would put the nation of 2.6 million — one of Europe’s poorest — on a clear EU accession path and show people in Transnistria that ties with the bloc, rather than Russia, would benefit their lives, Moldovan President Maia Sandu said.
Photo: AFP
“The sooner we increase living standards, the sooner we will have the chance for the reunification,” Sandu, 51, said in an interview in Chisinau on Tuesday, two days before she hosts a security summit of European leaders. “100 percent, that’s our objective.”
Like Ukraine, where protests ousted Moscow-backed then-Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovic in 2014 when he reneged on a deal allowing closer cooperation with the EU, Moldova won candidate status from the bloc last year.
It has since leaned on Western support to weather financial turbulence, a wave of refugees from the war in neighboring Ukraine, war-caused power shortages and double-digit inflation.
The cost-of-living crisis has hampered efforts to increase people’s living standards and focus on reforms required to join the EU, especially on the judicial front, Sandu said.
At the same time, the government in Chisinau accuses Russia of seeking to quash Molodova’s EU membership aspirations by fomenting instability, backing pro-Kremlin political forces, and organizing protests against reforms aimed at increasing transparency and the rule of law.
Moscow has repeatedly denied interfering in Moldova’s affairs, but maintains more than 1,000 troops in Transnistria that Western military analysts say pose a risk to stability in Moldova and security in Ukraine to the east.
In February, Sandu cited intelligence received from Ukraine saying Russia was trying to overthrow her government.
“Unfortunately Russia will continue to be a source of instability for many years to come,” Sandu said. “We have felt Russia’s attempts to destabilize our country and to undermine our efforts to build strong institutions and strong democratic processes, and that’s why EU integration is so important to us.”
Chisinau’s pre-accession reforms, which include anti-corruption efforts and crackdowns on oligarchs accused of draining public finances, have also faced opposition from pro-Russian political parties, which have called for Sandu’s resignation.
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