New Romanian – Moldovan Cooperation Projects
Romania's PM Victor Ponta and his Moldovan counterpart, Valeriu Strelet, met on Tuesday in the Romanian Black Sea resort of Neptun for what has already become a traditional joint meeting of the two countries' governments.
Bogdan Matei, 23.09.2015, 13:23
The Republic of
Moldova is Bucharest’s absolute priority, said Romania’s prime minister Victor
Ponta earlier this month at the annual meeting of Romanian diplomats, whom he
asked to promote Moldova’s interests as strongly as they would promote
Romania’s. Earlier, on the 27th of August, on the 24th
anniversary of Moldova’s independence from Moscow, Victor Ponta travelled to
Chisinau. During talks with president Nicolae Timofti and his counterpart
Valeriu Strelet, he again assured them of Romania’s support for their country’s
European aspirations.
On Tuesday in Neptun, Ponta stated that Romania planned
to lend 150 million euros to Moldova for a period of five years, as well as to
grant it non-reimbursable financing for future projects. He also said the
interconnection of the two countries’ energy and natural gas systems was a
strategic project that should be continued, so that Moldova could achieve
energy independence. An encouraging sign in this respect is the interest shown
by leading Romanian companies in becoming involved in the privatisation process
in the neighbouring state. Moldova’s prime minister Valeriu Strelet said he would
like Romania to become the biggest investor in Moldova and promised to grant
facilities to Romanian companies wishing to invest in his country. Without
explicitly naming Russia, the Moldovan prime minister said cutting its
dependence on a single provider would allow the Republic of Moldova to break
free from an obsolete system.
While the Romanian and Moldovan governments were
holding their joint meeting in Neptun, a rally was staged demanding the union
of the two states that would include not only energy interconnection, but also
a single currency and a common foreign and defence policy. The representatives
of the protesters were received by the Romanian foreign and social dialogue
ministers, Bogdan Aurescu and Liviu Pop, respectively, who promised to invite
them to attend the future government meeting as representatives of civil
society. The talks between the two governments, usually dominated by a
celebratory mood, were this time overshadowed by internal political problems.
In Bucharest, Victor Ponta was indicted on Monday on charges of corruption,
while next week, his government will face a no-confidence motion. In Chisinau,
thousands of people gather every Sunday in the centre of the city to demand the
resignation of their government, which only came to power two months ago. The
three-party coalition in Chisinau, which describes itself as pro-western, has
received a strong credibility blow following the mysterious disappearance from
the banking system of 1 billion dollars, which accounts for 15% of Moldova’s
GDP. Little wonder, then, that voices were heard at the pro-union rally in
Neptun urging Romanian anticorruption prosecutors to cross the border.
