​MOLDOVA NOT GOING TO APPLY FOR EU MEMBERSHIP AT RIGA SUMMIT – NATALIA GHERMAN

Moldova’s Deputy Premier, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Natalia Gherman has stated that at the forthcoming Eastern Partnership Summit, to be held in Riga (Latvia) next May, the Republic of Moldova will not submit an application for accession to the European Union.

Speaking at the news conference she gave jointly with Latvia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Edgars Rinkevics in Chisinau on Thursday, Natalia Gherman said that Moldova is now busy implementing essential reforms and its European agenda, and of course the EU-Moldova Association Agreement.

“We have to act not just to submit an application for the membership. No, we must first get really ready for starting negotiations on joining the European Union. This is a strategic objective of the Moldovan Government. Submission of an application to receive the status of a candidate country is not an end in itself”, said Minister Gherman.

In her words, membership application submission is “a tactical moment for both Moldova and the European Union”.

“The Riga Summit is simply a good opportunity to inform our EU colleagues about how reforms are advancing here and what results we have achieved in realizing the Association Agreement”, said Natalia Gherman.

Edgars Rinkevics said Moldova has to be well-prepared to applying for the EU membership. For this, the republic yet has to implement a number of important reforms.

“At the Riga Summit, I would like to see three clear messages from Eastern Partnership countries. First – that the countries, interested in approximation with the European Union, will be receiving Brussels’ practical and political support. Second – that the Association Agreement will not be the final stage between the EU and the said countries. And third is to determine best methods of backing the European ambitions of the Eastern Partnership countries”, said Edgars Rinkevics.

In the course of a meeting between the two foreign ministers in Chisinau, they discussed preparation to the Riga Summit, bilateral relations between Moldova and Latvia, and Moldova’s relationship with the European Union – with an account that Latvia is presently presiding in the EU Council.

Natalia Gherman said, “We want the Riga Summit to become a new reference point for Moldova’s European aspirations, including by means of recognizing that the future of our country is in the European Union as a full-right member of the organization”.

The Latvian foreign minister welcomed the progress Moldova has achieved in realization of the EU-Moldova Association Agreement.

“We have been impressed with the first results of the Agreement implementation, in particular with introduction of a free trade zone, thanks to which Moldovan exports to the European market have substantially grown lately”, said the Latvian minister.

The parties underscored the importance of continuing struggle against corruption and the judiciary reform, and of stabilization of the country’s financial and banking system.

As already reported by Infotag, the Eastern Partnership Summit will be held in Riga on May 21-22. Previously, the Moldovan authorities stated that the republic would submit an application for joining the European Union so as to receive the candidate status, which would facilitate the implementation of reforms, as Chisinau believed. During the recent parliamentary campaign here, Moldovan pro-European parties were maintaining that if the application is submitted in 2015, the republic may receive the candidate status in 2018. After the elections, however, the ruling parties gave up the intention to apply for the EU membership this year.