Moldovan president meets European official

Chisinau, 7 February /MOLDPRES/- President Igor Dodon today had a meeting with European Council President Donald Tusk, the presidential press service has reported.

The officials exchanged opinions about the current situation, especially, the relations between the EU and Moldova.

Dodon said that although the forecast on the country’s development after signing the Association Agreement with EU were very optimistic, in fact, after two years of implementation, the situation in the country worsened. In this context, the president was referring to macroeconomic indicators, life quality, corruption perception indices, as well as independence of institutions and media freedom.

The head of state reiterated that if as a result of the ordinary or snap polls, or within a possible referendum, it is decided that the Association Agreement with EU must be canceled, as president I will follow this initiative.

Dodon pointed out that decreasing trust in EU institutions and those who would like integration with EU, from 68 per cent in 2009 – to 38 per cent in 2016, is due to both poor governance in this period and double standards with geopolitical context that European officials have applied in relation to what happened in Chisinau all these years.

In another context, the president thanked for the financial support provided to Moldova over the past eight years, expressing regret that this support had not improved the quality of people’s lives. According to Dodon, it is now vital for Moldova to restore relations with Russia, in the context, launching the initiative to start trilateral negotiations – EU, Moldova and Russia on trade issue.

In another context, Dodon asked assistance in investigating fraud of billions in banking system, mainly, all this has happened after the signing of the Association Agreement.

Dodon pointed out that the reforms in Chisinau were largely mimed, although political will is needed to reform firstly law institutions, justice system and prosecution.

“We will continue the dialogue first of all for the benefit of Moldova and its citizens”, Dodon concluded.