SITUATION IN MOLDOVA IS CAUSING EXTREME DISAPPOINTMENT - FORMER EU REPRESENTATIVE

All what happened in Moldova last few years is causing an extreme disappointment, maintains Kalman Mizsei, ex-Head of the European Union Delegation to the Republic of Moldova.

On Thursday, the diplomat took floor at the international conference named "Possibilities for and Impediments to Changes in Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine" held in Chisinau, and said that nobody has a universal answer about the process of reform of a state, and even Central European countries have a fairly dramatic situation in this field.

"The European Union has under-estimated the difficulties, which Moldova and Ukraine actually came to face in the process of establishing democratic principles. And though as recently as in 2010 there existed an optimistic view and we all could see Moldova's desire to make a real breakthrough - alas now we have to recognize that we have failed. That happened because we all were driven more by illusions rather than by reality", said the diplomat.

In his words, the only Eastern Partnership (EaP) country that has managed to implement fundamental reforms is the Republic of Georgia.

"As for Ukraine and Moldova, they are remaining countries with an incredible level of corruption. And at resolving this problem, pragmatism must play the first role. You cannot build a Sweden in your country in one day. In conditions, when the state system has been finally rotted through, you should reduce through reforms the role played by the State in your country. That's the essence of a liberal approach. Corruption must be combated first and foremost in state institutions. It is necessary to ensure the institutions' transparency and to gradually lower the role played by the State as the main regulator of the national economy", believes the European expert.