MOLDOVA WILL HARDLY APPLY FOR EU MEMBERSHIP NEXT COUPLE OF YEARS – PREMIER FILIP

Within next 2 years, Moldova will be not ready to apply for membership of the European Union, Moldovan Prime Minister Pavel Filip stated in an interview with “The European Truth” publication of Ukraine he gave during his last week’s visit to Kiev.

“I don’t think we will be ready to submit such application this year and even in 2019. To accede to the European Union, a country must be ready for this. Yes, many politicians put emphasis on populist statements. But if you want simply to submit an application, it does not yet mean you seek to be closer to the European Union. You will be closer to EU only when you have implemented reforms! You see, European integration is a question of domestic policy and not of foreign policy”, stressed Pavel Filip.

In his words, “Accession to the European Union means that Moldova must bring its domestic standards up to the level of the European Union. I mean not only European standards in legislation but also in the people’s everyday life – how well the public health sector works, and education, and how high the citizens’ living standards are, and the development of infrastructure”.

Filip stressed that Moldova has set itself the same political goals as Ukraine and Georgia, and therefore in questions of European integration it is worthwhile coordinating efforts with these countries.

“I think we should do many things together. By acting team-like with Ukraine and Georgia, we can really achieve more. I mean not only a possibility to submit a joint application. No, I mean that various special mechanisms can be applied to the three countries acting together. For instance, we want to jointly apply to the European Union for extra financial instruments for our countries. Integration with the European Union is our common goal. That’s why we should unite efforts. If we jointly tell all this to EU member countries, we will sound more convincing”, stressed the Moldovan Premier.

Asked about the suspended 100-million-euro EU assistance for Moldova, Pavel Filip stated that his Government had met all of the EU conditions, “but this question has been too politicized”.

As was already reported by Infotag, in July 2017 the Chairpersons of the Parliaments of Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine called the European Parliament to pass a Resolution on opening a perspective of accession to the European Union for the three associated countries. The three Speakers then asked to adopt such a document at the forthcoming Eastern Partnership Summit due to be held in Brussels in November 2017.

After that, Moldovan Parliament Chairman Andrian Candu stated that Moldova might submit such an application to EU in 2018, or in 2019 – when Romania would be chairing in the European Union Council. However, Brussels then showed its skeptical attitude to the three countries’ striving for becoming EU Members, and called them to continue implementation of reforms. While visiting Chisinau in July 2017, Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn stated that discussions about the countries’ European perspective will be possible depending on their practical achievements.