The First 100 Days of the Moldovan Government
The prime minister of the Republic of Moldova, Iurie Leanca, presented a report on the first 100 days of his government, which is quite good in spite of a difficult regional context.
Ştefan Stoica, 20.09.2013, 14:19
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova, Iurie Leanca, adopted a reserved tone in the report presented on Thursday on the first 100 days since his cabinet came to power. Nonetheless, in spite of the domestic situation and of the challenges in the region, particularly as regards the country’s relations with the Russian Federation, the head of the Moldovan government described the country’s evolution as positive, and promised to carry on reforms and European accession efforts. Creating new jobs and fighting corruption remain high on the list of the government’s priorities, because there is much left to do in these areas.
Iurie Leanca: “I would have liked to have more jobs, I would have liked better results in the fight against corruption. The context in which we have been working lately has become a lot more complicated, with a lot more challenges. You have all witnessed the recent evolution, or perhaps we should use the word involution, of the regional situation.”
The challenges come from the East. Annoyed with the firm steps that Moldova is making towards the EU with Romanian support, Russia has recently suspended the imports of Moldovan wine, on grounds of its low quality. This is a political, rather than technical issue, and cancels 30% of the Moldova’s total wine exports, Iurie Leanca explained. He did not rule out further measures of this kind, such as a possible suspension of natural gas supplies to Moldova, as the Russian deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Rogozin had suggested during his recent visit to Chisinau. The natural gas supply contract with Gazprom expired in 2011 and was extended until the end of this year.
The underlying reasons for such moves are quite evident. Moscow pressures Chisinau, trying to hinder its European progress, and this pressure and blackmail policy has been criticized as such in a draft resolution of the European Parliament. Still, nothing will take Moldova off its path to Europe, the Prime Minister promised. A free trade agreement with the EU will be signed in November, at the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius.
The association agreement and the visa waiver agreement might be signed in the first half of next year, Iurie Leanca also announced. Another major project is the Iasi-Ungheni natural gas pipeline, built jointly with Romania, and vital for ensuring the country’s energy security. Not least, the Moldovan Government will carry on negotiations with the Transdniester separatists in the east of the country, an issue pending for over two decades.
