“Cold Shower”: EU Harshly Criticized Moldova

Marina DRAGALIN EU Foreign Policy Director responsible for the Eastern Partnership Luc Devigne, assessed unsatisfactory Chisinau's efforts to fulfill its obligations to the European Union and threatened to stop financial assistance. Against the backdrop of turbulent and somewhat unexpected events taking place in the Moldavian domestic political arena, the important event for Moldovan-European relations took place quite regularly (even slightly unnoticed) — the fifth meeting of the Association Committee: The Republic of Moldova - the European Union. In Chisinau arrived the EU delegation led by Luc Devigne, the Director of the European External Relations Service for Eastern Partnership, the OSCE and Russia. The range of issues raised at the event was traditional: from justice reform and the fight against corruption to Moldova's cooperation with international financial organizations and social and educational policies. But what was not usual was the nature of the assessments voiced by Devigne of Chisinau's actions towards European integration. Following the meeting, Moldova was criticized quite severely (especially taking into account the usual diplomacy of European officials) and also received several important messages. It was expected that this visit would not be pleasant for the Moldovan authorities. On the eve of the meeting, the head of the EU delegation Peter Michalko has repeatedly hinted at the current skepticism of Brussels towards Moldova. Underscoring that “there is no political force in Moldova that would deny the fundamental role of the Association Agreement with the EU,” he nevertheless expressed dissatisfaction with the “achievements” of Chisinau in the field of strategically important reforms. A cause for concern of the European Union was the return to the parliamentary agenda of bills that did not meet Moldova’s obligations to the World Trade Organization and the agreement on free trade zone. We are talking about amendments to the law on domestic trade, suggesting that 50% of the goods on store shelves should be locally produced. The Chicu government returned them to the Parliament after Sandu Cabinet recalled them in November 2019. Apparently, Luc Devigne, as the main negotiator of the European Union on the association agreement, had the task of “shaking up” the Moldovan authorities and continuing the long-outlined course of curtailing (at least temporarily) assistance to the Moldovan government on the pretext of a stalled European integration process. It is not surprising that the messages transmitted by the Commission on the basis of the European official’s messages concerned those areas in which the Moldovan leadership has so far failed to achieve tangible results. So, he conveyed the position of the EU on the unacceptability of the lack of measures to resolve the situation with the "theft of the century." At a press conference following the meeting of the committee, Devigne emphasized that “it is abnormal and unacceptable that five years after this scheme was revealed, and after one of the leading detective agencies KROLL has published the details of its investigation, and they are even publicly available “The authorities have not made a decision in this direction.” Devigne bluntly stated that if it is impossible to bring to justice for the theft of such a scale "which actually has no analogues in the world and cost the country 15% of GDP, then the problem is in the state itself." He also added that "it is becoming more and more difficult for European institutions, European deputies to answer a question justifying support for a country that itself does not do everything necessary to return what was taken from it." For clarity, the official drew a direct parallel with the stolen billion and EU grant support for the same amount over the past years, doubting the appropriateness of providing new assistance, which “could be stolen” anyway. Devigne stated directly on the progress in implementing justice reform and noted that “in these circumstances it is politically difficult to find arguments in the European Parliament to vote on the resumption of macroeconomic financial support for the Republic of Moldova”. In addition, he drew attention to the scandalous law on citizenship for investments, threatening, if it is maintained, the abolition of a visa-free regime with the EU. The current Moldovan authorities needed such a dragging out to justify the last thesis - to shift the focus of attention to Moldovans directly. Earlier this approach was already proclaimed by Bucharest which was also the initiator of the rigorous EU monitoring organization of Chisinau’s actions. Declarations are supported by specific examples: thus, acting Romanian Prime Minister Ludovic Orban said that the issue of developing a mechanism to support project financing at the level of human settlements in Romania and Moldova is being considered. In essence, this is a reorientation of the flows of financial assistance to the regions, bypassing the government, which will have to patch up budget holes through other sources. It is worth recognizing that representatives of the executive branch of European bureaucracy have not long allowed themselves such harsh language and comments to Chisinau. In Moldova itself, of course, this did not go unnoticed. Thus, the Moldovan opposition blamed President Igor Dodon for the apparent deterioration of relations with the European Union. The head of state himself even earlier criticized the European diplomatic corps, some representatives of which, he said, submit distorted data to their capitals. Later, Moldovan diplomats in European countries got it hot and strong from Dodon. However, it is clear that the matter is not in specific personalities, but in the general change in the EU’s strategic approaches to Moldova at the current stage. The rather bold expulsion of Brussels' favorites, the ACUM bloc, from the ruling coalition and power institutions could not remain without consequences. Now the EU is trying to win back the situation, together with other major players, exerting a direct influence on the political processes in the Republic of Moldova. Macro-financial assistance and political support of the EU are still the most important elements in ensuring internal stability in Moldova, and therefore they will continue to be used to adjust the Moldovan political field in the parameters necessary for the EU.