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'Romania remains our voice in Brussels and in absolutely all EU capitals' - Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration, Cristina Gherasimov, in an interview for veridica.ro

29-07-2024 00:00
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Veridica: Madam Deputy Prime Minister, the Republic of Moldova has managed, in about two years and four months, to progress from applying for EU membership to starting negotiations. Countries such as ones in the Western Balkans and others are in this process for more than 20 years. What are the main elements of this success?

 

Cristina Gherasimov: First of all, it is about the effort that we have managed to make as a society and as state institutions. The effort of the people who engaged every day in order to maximise the opportunities offered by this period of time. Of course, we all know that the dialogue on the enlargement of the European Union has been renewed on the background of the tragic situation in the region caused by Russia's brutal war against Ukraine. At the same time, we understand that this situation is a geopolitical opportunity. And together with our colleagues from the Ukraine, we are trying to maximise it so that we can anchor ourselves in that space of peace and prosperity called the European Union.

 

Veridica: What to expect during this period of negotiating EU accession chapters? It is a very technical and labour demanding process that will require a lot of time and human resources. Does the Republic of Moldova have these capacities at the moment?  

 

Cristina Gherasimov: As in any new beginning, we are in the process of building a team, strengthening our internal efforts and capacities. Each institution has already started to enlarge its teams. We are working with civil society experts in order to cover certain expertise gaps. We also cooperate a lot with foreign experts who can guide us, as their countries have also previously gone through similar EU pre-accession processes. We are working intensively on capacity building, including with colleagues and experts from Romania, but also from other countries that have acceded EU in the last 20 years.

 

Veridica: Do you plan to ask for some help from European experts to come in and pitch in? Are you having discussions with Romania to help you with experts and expertise in this complex negotiation process?

 

Cristina Gherasimov: Romania is our number one partner in the process of preparing for EU accession. We are working with public institutions, but also with experts who can offer us some help. At the moment we are able to bring over 40 experts from Romania. We hope of course to be able to increase this number in the future. However, it is certain that, considering the discussions I am having with Luminița-Teodora Odobescu, the Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, our Romanian colleagues are willing to support us in the upcoming processes.

 

An illustrative example of this is the fact that this week I will visit Bucharest, where I have been invited by Mrs Odobescu to share the Chisinau perspective at the Annual Meeting of Romanian Diplomacy. We will discuss with members of Romania's diplomatic corps about the ways we can have a stronger cooperation between our missions in the EU Member States, so as to strengthen our presence in European countries and, in addition, to manage to bring as much assistance as possible to our EU accession process here, at home, in Moldova. 

 

Veridica: How do you evaluate Romania's support to Moldova's EU integration process? I remember that during the mandate of Mr Nicu Popescu, there was even metaphorical reference to 'two foreign ministries' working with the same purpose. Is this expression still relevant today?

 

Cristina Gherasimov: Of course, the situation has not changed. Romania remains our voice in Brussels and in absolutely all EU capitals. We are very grateful for this support, as well as for all the support we receive from Romania on our way to becoming a genuinely European state.

 

Veridica: We know that the rule of law and justice are at the forefront in these negotiations. We also know that the judicial system is not easy to reform. Are things currently going well or do they need a boost? What is your opinion on the situation?

 

Cristina Gherasimov: We are aware that the accession negotiations begin and end with the group of chapters related to fundamental values, and justice reform plays a fundamental role in this respect. We are already in the middle of this very complex reform - the vetting of judges and prosecutors. It is true we are facing resistance from the system to the reforms we have engaged in, but this is also a clear signal that we are on the right direction. Now we have to complete the process in order to consolidate a truly independent justice system in the Republic of Moldova.

 

Veridica: How do Moldova's partners see this process of justice reform? There is political willingness in Chișinău, but, as you mentioned, the judicial system is still opposing for various reasons.

 

Cristina Gherasimov: We have the full support of the international community to move forward in finalising the justice reform. Our partners understand very well the complexity of this process and we are not the first country to engage in such a complex reform. We have seen recently, including in Albania and Ukraine, similar processes and trends, where certain exponents of this corrupt system are strongly opposing the cleansing of justice.

 

I would like to highlight that, on behalf of the Government, we have provided the judicial system with all the necessary instruments to cleanse itself. Now it is up to it to continue this effort - through the Superior Council of Magistracy and the Superior Council of Prosecutors. We hope very much that these self-governing judicial bodies will succeed in cleansing the justice system of the corrupt elements that still exist in it.

 

Veridica: The government is in a way between a rock and a hard place. I'm talking about the expectations of the public, who want the justice system to be cleaned up quickly, but also the expectations of development partners, who expect a deep reform, not necessarily a quick one. What would be the optimal ratio in this context? Because you have to satisfy the public, but you also have to do things in the tempo of 'festina lente' [make haste slowly!], as the European partners want, in order to have a good, complete and irreversible reform.   

 

Cristina Gherasimov: It is indeed a difficult task to maintain this balance between citizens' expectations and the high speed at which we have to accelerate the process of justice reform. It is quite natural for society to have high expectations for this complex process of cleaning up the judicial system to take place as quickly as possible. At the same time, our message is that it is not possible, in the course of two or three years, to eradicate the practices and habits that have been at the basis of our judicial system for the last three decades.

 

From this perspective, we are also trying to address citizens so that we continue getting their support throughout this reform. It is not an easy task, but the most important thing is to restore the trust of the people in the Republic of Moldova in the quality and the fairness of the justice system. We sincerely hope that as we progress, within a year, in this process, we will see a higher level of trust. At the same time, we are also explaining these things to Brussels and we have the full support of our partners in ensuring the quality and sustainability of the justice reform.

 

Veridica: What steps are you taking in order to establish an efficient mechanism to attract and profit from European funds? To compare, we have the not very successful experience of Romania, but also the impressive experience of Poland. How is the Republic of Moldova preparing for this?

 

Cristina Gherasimov: It is important to increase and strengthen the absorption capacity of European funds both for our institutions and for the whole society. It is a first step that we need to take so as to ensure that everyone feels comfortable with the capacities they have when accessing projects for European funds. We also intend to take on board the experience of other countries so that we can benefit from the programs made available to us by the European Union institutions as soon as possible and make use of these funds in the pre-accession process.

 

Veridica: The direct opponent of the Republic of Moldova's accession to the EU is the Russian Federation. To what extent is Chisinau today more resilient to the hybrid war waged by Moscow against the country's EU accession process?

 

Cristina Gherasimov: Four years ago, Moldova was totally dependent on Russia. And one of the main things we have managed to do in recent years has been to strengthen our independence, especially by investing in energy security. This is a leading example in the many reforms we have undertaken.

We are trying to fight misinformation that comes from the East and is a problem that not only Moldova is facing. It is a phenomenon which affects all countries in our region, but also in the world. We have managed to establish certain institutions to strengthen our capacity to counter this hybrid warfare, which we must resist daily. But it is obvious that destabilisation efforts will intensify, especially now, as we are quickly approaching the presidential elections on 20 October and the referendum on European integration on the same day.

The aim of Russian propaganda, before these democratic exercises that we are about to go through as a society, is to discredit democratic processes and the European Union in the eyes of our citizens. Their intention is to create the perception that our choice to join the EU will lead to war. These are the messages being promoted today in the public space by pro-Russian actors and pro-Russian channels. These are organised actions which have intensified since the beginning of the year and will increase in the coming months.

 

Veridica: Why should people turn out to vote at the referendum on October 20? Is this referendum also a barometer of the Republic of Moldova's society's adherence to the idea of European integration, but also a signal to external partners that people here really want this integration?

 

Cristina Gherasimov: Our citizens should participate in the referendum because now there is a historic opportunity for our country to become a member state of the European Union in a real time. It is a window of opportunity that is not so often offered to us and it is our duty as European citizens to bring our country into the EU, to anchor it in this European space. It is the duty of our generation to offer that peace, stability and prosperity to the today's generations, but also to the future generations.

 

Veridica: You were recently in Kiev and discussed with your counterpart, Olga Stefanishyna, about the next steps of European integration. Could the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine still go together in this accession process or, the Republic of Moldova being a smaller state, could move forward faster, taking into account that Ukraine is in the middle of a war with Russia and it is extremely difficult to implement the necessary reforms in such conditions?

 

Cristina Gherasimov: In the next stage, the bilateral screening, we are moving forward together with Ukraine. We are going through the same process of evaluating our legislation compared to that of the EU. The European Commission has given us almost the same timetable for the screening sessions. Regarding the following steps, there will already be separate paths, because the actual accession process is merit-based and depends on individual efforts.

 

Once we receive the evaluation from the European Commission regarding how far or close we are to the acquis communautaire, each country will know what tasks it needs to address. From this perspective, the next stages will clearly differentiate us in terms of the speed with which we will move forward in the process of EU integration itself.

 

Veridica: Mrs Roberta Metsola has been re-elected as President of the European Parliament, and Mrs. Ursula von der Leyen as President of the European Commission. They supported EU enlargement and are in good relations with the Republic of Moldova. How important is it for the Republic of Moldova to continue to have such leaders at the top of the EU in order to move the accession process forward quickly?

 

Cristina Gherasimov: It is a precondition for enlargement to stay a priority - and not only for Brussels, but also for all other European capitals. Mrs. Roberta Metsola supports our European path, and the re-election of Mrs. Ursula von der Leyen as President of the European Commission will be a major driving force for Moldova. De facto, despite the changes in the composition of the European Parliament, the recent elections in the 27 EU Member States reflect the support for the enlargement of the European Union - with the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, and with the Western Balkan states. We have, therefore, a continuity in this window of opportunity, and we will do everything we can to keep it wide open and to make the most of it.

 

Interview veridica.ro: Mădălin Necșuțu

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March 2024

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