Igor Munteanu: Moldova Has not Fulfilled 8 Conditions Made to the EU

Moldova has not fully complied with the 8 conditions set at the EU-RM Association Committee meeting to receive the second tranche from macroeconomic assistance. This opinion was expressed by the DA Platform vice-chairman Igor Munteanu. “Recently, some representatives of the current government said that they had fulfilled their obligations and are expecting immediate payment of the second tranche, exaggerating, as usual, in terms of style, accuracy and dialogue,” said Igor Munteanu, referring to each of these conditions, ipn.md reports. In his opinion, two of these conditions, the accession to the OECD Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia and the Moratorium on the Citizenship for Investment program, have been partially implemented. As to the first condition, Igor Munteanu clarifies that “the procedures were completed, but the entry was not completed,” the second says that “the moratorium was extended until September 1, 2020, but the law According to him, four of these eight conditions are not fulfilled. One of them is associated with forming a joint team to investigate a bank fraud. “Despite the fact that resources have been allocated, a joint investigation team with Latvian experts and the EU Agency Eurojust has not yet been formed,” said the vice chairman of the DA Platform. In his opinion, another indicator that was not met, and the leaders of both of these agencies strongly opposed, is an independent assessment of the Council on Television and Radio and the Competition Council through external audits, as requested by the European Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Oliver Varhelyi. As for the Justice Reform Strategy (PdA), Igor Munteanu says this is also an unfulfilled condition. “The process of developing this strategy is only at the embryonic stage, assuming the effective and credible participation of experts from the Council of Europe, the EU (DG Just), civil society and political parties,” he adds. Speaking about the reform indicator of the Higher Council of the Magistracy, Igor Munteanu states, “As in the case of the Justice Sector Reform Strategy, the reform process involves the effective participation and progress established by experts from the Council of Europe, the EU (DG Just) with the participation of civil society and political parties.” Regarding the conditions for adoption of the Law on Non-Profit Organizations, the deputy notes that on June 12 the law was adopted in the second reading, and not in the last, and the indicator will be met only after the law is adopted, promulgated and published. According to him, the only fully fulfilled condition is the adoption of the Law on sanctions for crimes related to money laundering. “The law was adopted in final reading on May 21, 2020,” the vice chairman of the DA Platform recalled. According to him, the pandemic crisis has greatly complicated the task of the current government to fulfill its obligations. “It would be reckless not to acknowledge this, but for the sake of truth, we should not frivolously justify any government failure, debt or excuse on the part of the government by the consequences of this emergency called Covid-19. This would be a strategic mistake in relation to the EU,” Igor Munteanu added.