INTERVIEW // Romanian Ambassador to Moldova says his country wants Moldovan citizens to have prosperous future in European Union

Chisinau, 28 November /MOLDPRES/ - Interview given exclusively by Romania’s Ambassador to Moldova Cristian-Leon Turcanu with MOLDPRES Agency.   

*The result of the referendum confirmed what we had known for a long time that Moldova’s citizens want to come to the European family.

*The expectations of the Bucharest authorities are the same – we want Moldova to be stable, to manage to cope, in continuation, with the pressures from abroad to which it is subjected.  

*The best measure to protect ourselves from this war is for us to enhance our degree of resilience – Moldova, Romania, as well as other states of the region.

*We have infrastructure projects and as regards the electric energy. It is about a string of new electric energy interconnections which will contribute very much to the energy security of Moldova.  

*We will continue supporting this particularly ambitious goal of Moldova – integration into the European Union.  

MOLDPRES: Your Excellency, Mr. Cristian-Leon Turcanu, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Romania to Moldova, we thank you for willingness to give us an interview.  

Romania has proved by deeds that it is the most ardent supporter of Moldova. Now, after the Moldovan citizens voted for the European integration at a constitutional referendum, elected the president at the ballots from 20 October, 3 November, thus expressing a vote of confidence for the continuity of the directions of Moldova’s development, what are the expectations of the Bucharest authorities?   

Cristian-Leon Turcanu: Thank you for invitation. It has always been a pleasure for me to speak with Moldpres. Yes, we witnessed a historical moment, a moment when Moldova and Moldova’s citizens won. This is a victory of the freedom of choice of a better, more prosperous future, of a future in peace and security. The result of the referendum confirmed what we had known for a long time that Moldova’s citizens want to come to the European family. And the reelection of the president which has fought and fights so intensely along with the Moldovan authorities for this European dream represents a guarantee for the continuation of the process of reform, continuation of the modernization processes, for the continuation of this European integration way of Moldova.     

The expectations of the Bucharest authorities are the same – we want Moldova to be stable, to manage to cope, in continuation, with the pressures from abroad to which it is subjected. We want Moldova to be able to cope with the hybrid attacks coming on behalf of Russia every day and at the same time we want Moldova to develop in continuation from the social and economic viewpoint for the benefit of each citizen. We want the citizens from this bank of the Prut river to enjoy an as prosperous as possible future in the European Union.  

MOLDPRES: Romania and Moldova are involved in comprehensive joint infrastructure projects. For the next year, which are Romania’s priorities in the development of the infrastructure from Moldova?  

Cristian-Leon Turcanu: This is true. These projects, which we have along with the Moldovan authorities regards more types of infrastructure. First of all, it is about the road infrastructure, the infrastructure of bridges, of border checkpoints, which is thought to develop for the citizens to be able to travel easier, for the business to be able to be carried out in better conditions. We have infrastructure projects and as regards the electric energy. It is about a string of new electric energy interconnections, which will contribute very much to the energy security of Moldova. At the same time, we also have other projects in the field of infrastructure of supply with drinking water, for instance, with sewerage. Romania this year has financed a string of projects which were implemented within the European Village Programme, carried out in this sector. We also talk about the school infrastructure. We have diverse projects which are going to be conceived or are under way, such as, for instance, the renovation of one of the blocks of the Cahul University, for which the financing was provided by the government of Romania.    

MOLDPRES: Moldova has become a reliable partner for Brussels due to the political will proved by the Chisinau leaders, but at the same time, we recognize that this will has been permanently backed by Romania, so that the voice of Moldova was heard on diverse international platforms and was treated with respect and seriousness. What projects the Romanian diplomacy has in the near future for supporting Moldova’s integration into EU?    

Cristian-Leon Turcanu: Moldova has been heard by Brussels and in the western capitals, as Moldova has done a lot already. Moldova has made considerable progress as concerns the reforms. This progress was not achieved easily. This is true. The effort made by the European authorities from Chisinau was seen, was noticed; was appreciated. As a matter of fact, the success achieved by Moldova on this European integration path is due namely to these efforts and positive results registered by the local pro-European authorities. For the next year, we will continue supporting this particularly ambitious goal of Moldova - integration into the European Union. At the same time, we will carry out a string of quite practical actions, meant to back the efforts in everything which means period of pre-accession. There is very large volume of work as regards the adjusting of the legislative framework in a string of fields, the negotiation on all chapters. Romania has set the goal and is already doing this – provides expertise. We learned a lot of things in the process of Romania’s accession to the European Union and we want to share from these things which we learned and first of all, to share also from the mistakes which we committed, as this is a very important thing.  Once you committed a mistake and learned from your mistake, you help your friends not to commit the same mistake.           

MOLDPRES: The war in Ukraine is one of the most serious threats to Moldova’s security and the perspective of the front frightens the entire society. What Romania can do to protect the Moldovans, especially as some of them hold Romania’s citizenship as well?   

Cristian-Leon Turcanu: The war waged by Russia against Ukraine and the Ukrainian citizens is a war which affects not only the security of Moldova, but also of Romania and the entire European continent. This is an illegitimate, illegal, cruel war, which has been continued for more than 1,000 days already. These 1,000 days mean also 1,000 days of resistance and resilience of Ukraine and of the Ukrainians. I think that the best measure to protect ourselves from this war is for us to enhance our degree of resilience – Moldova, Romania, as well as other states of the region. This is a quite important item in the cooperation between Bucharest and Chisinau, as some of our efforts, our assistance programmes are aimed namely at this zone of enhancement of Moldova’s resilience in all sectors.   

MOLDPRES: With Romania’s support, Moldova manages to solve one of the biggest problems and namely to ensure its energy independence, through connections to the energy networks from Romania, as well as through participation in the Romanian energy market. What big projects are envisaged for the next period?  

Cristian-Leon Turcanu: Probably, the most important project is the construction of a new high-tension power line Suceava-Balti, meant to complete the capacity of supply of electric energy for Moldova.    

Moldova has made big progress in ensuring its energy security. This progress was fully backed by Bucharest. As you know, in crisis situations, Romania immediately gave a helping hand to Moldova; we talk about the energy crisis which took place two years ago. Moldova is prepared. We are prepared to support Moldova, if necessary. I dare to say that any energy crisis which might take place will be triggered by Russia.    

MOLDPRES: One of the biggest challenges for the security from Moldova is the Russian propaganda and which was easily seen at the recent elections. How Romania can help Moldova become stronger against the propaganda and the hybrid attacks on behalf of Moscow?   

Cristian-Leon Turcanu: The propaganda is not a new thing. The Russian propaganda, Moscow’s propaganda targeted against Moldova and its citizens is a thing which has been unfolding for much time already, for tens of years. For this reason, it is quite difficult to remove this thing and to diminish all dangers which are put by this propaganda in a short time. Our cooperation in this field is pretty ample, even if it is not seen. The combating of the propaganda and the fake news is a sector with which specialized institutions deal and is part of more ample efforts, as I has earlier said, of enhancing the degree of Moldova’s resilience. The propaganda is a component of the hybrid war waged by Russia against Moldova and a quite serious component. Here, each citizen has a very important role to be played, as each of us is obliged to verify the information, to consciously choose where we take information from, to look for honest sources, safe sources for this information, such as Moldpres, for instance, which is one of the reliable sources, which provide clean and honest information here, in Moldova.   

MOLDPRES: Moldova is a full process of accession to the European Union and the present governance is set to finish this exercise in 2030. How realistic this term is from the point of view of Romania and which priorities should the governance of Moldova be focused on?  

Cristian-Leon Turcanu: From my point of view, the term is realistic and the success depends on the efforts and intensity with which all institutions involved will be concerned by the business due to be carried out. It is about consistency; the consistency is very important; the rhythmicity is very important and it is quite important that we do not idle. After all, the observance of this self-assumed term depends on the institutions’ willingness to do their job. This is happening. We already see that the stages have been covered successfully this year. Appreciations came on behalf of Brussels and they were positive appreciations and obviously the  teams from Chisinau involved in this process, which is quite complex and difficult, through the light of the work which should be carried out, proved seriousness, competence and that they want the country to join the European Union.         

I wish these citizens from this bank of the Prut river to as soon as possible enjoy what the European Union means – peace and prosperity.  

Interview made by Cornelia Stefoglu