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President Iohannis: We decided to grant humanitarian aid to Republic of Moldova
President Klaus Iohannis announced on Wednesday that Romania decided to grant a humanitarian aid to the Republic of Moldova until the neighboring country fulfills the requirements for the grant of a reimbursable financial aid.
"The Republic of Moldova has a new Government, a Prime Minister (...) who seems determined to put into practice what he promised and we expect the very concrete first steps on the path of reform, after which, of course, we shall be able to grant the first tranche [of the reimbursable loan]. There are requirements related to, for instance, good banking governance, justice independence, but also very concrete things, as the approval of a roadmap with the International Monetary Fund. These things have been communicated between the two prime ministers and I believe that the new Government has all the interest to begin these reforms very soon. The Moldovan Parliament I believe has the same interest, and then they can certainly get down to work, but we don't know if this process lasts one week, or two or three, or six, and then we decided to grant Moldova a humanitarian, nonrefundable aid, to come to the support of the people there," Iohannis said at the Cotroceni Palace at the joint press conference with his Moldovan counterpart Nicolae Timofti, who is paying a visit to Romania.
He underscored that those who need urgent help are the citizens of the Republic of Moldova, facing complicated situations, and that, to this end the humanitarian aid is designed to enforce some measures until an agreement is reached.
The head of state brought to mind that last year he sent back the agreement on the grant of a 150-million-euro reimbursable loan to the Republic of Moldova because of the situation this country was facing at that time, which was hard to evaluate at that time.
Moldovan President Nicolae Timofti stated on Wednesday that it is very important that a trustworthy partner, such as Romania, invest capital in Moldova.
"I told President Iohannis that I want Romania to keep on participating, as we established before, to our energy development, which would allow us to exit the vulnerable area. There are political risks, geopolitical and economic, that we tackled today, in our discussion, and avoiding them would place Moldova in a European space of stability. When we speak of investments, I believe it is very important that a trustworthy partner with good intentions - such as Romania is for us - invest in Moldova," Nicolae Timofti stated at Cotroceni Palace during a joint press conference with President Klaus Iohannis.
According to him, the Chisinau political crisis did not affect the political and economic dialogue between the two countries.
"On the contrary, I have the feeling that the difficulties Moldova is going through brought us even closer and collaboration perspectives are becoming increasingly obvious, inescapable. This is the natural development of things. The constant and valuable support which Romania provides us with in many areas is indisputable," Timofti said.
The Moldovan president noted that the political, economic and informational rapprochement between the two countries must be a goal for the upcoming years.
"We are united through blood, history and spirit. We must only capitalize on this common heritage, in the name of prosperity and security for all of us," Timofti added.
Union with Moldova possible when situation is stable
Romania could unite with the Republic of Moldova when things are stable and go well in both countries, President Klaus Iohannis asserted on Wednesday, in a public debate styled 'Dialogue for Romania. Civil society's political spring'.
'"The path to Europe must be consolidated; the situation in Moldova needs to stabilize; the Moldovan economy has to restart. The next step, in my opinion, is the European integration of Moldova, and the other topic — the union — can be discussed when things are very stable and go well on both sides of the Prut River [Moldovan-Romanian border — editor's note]. Raising now the question of Moldova's union with Romania seems to me a quite unserious approach, if we look around, the problem of Transnistria (...) there's the matter of economic stability, of fight against corruption, which regardless of how we see it is high on both sides of the Prut — and then, after we settle all these issues for which we know the solutions, we can approach more complicated issues and start talking," the President said.
"Many mistakes are made in politics because people lack patience, and instead of approaching an essentially good matter calmly and solve it, the approach is too quick and ruins it permanently. I don't think anybody wants to ruin this matter," Iohannis pleaded.
"I still find correct, more than one year later, the idea I formulated in the election campaign, but we must see things in a reasonable sequence. There are two vital things for the Republic of Moldova, and thus important to us — the consolidation of its pro-European path and the matter of the union, which is claimed by some groups — some louder, some more difficultly heard," the head of state went on.
"We must help them [Moldova] implement the EU Association Agreement, help them overcome the present political crisis — because they are still in a crisis. If anyone thinks it's over there, and everything is fine, they are wrong," Iohannis declared.
President Klaus Iohannis on Wednesday said that Romania is determined to support the Republic of Moldova's European path.
"You can count on us, we are close to you, we are determined to support you on the path the Republic of Moldova has embarked on several years ago - the European path," Iohannis said at the Cotroceni Palace, at the joint press conference with his Moldovan counterpart Nicolae Timofti.
He underscored that much more economic projects between Romania and the Republic of Moldova are needed, giving the example of the Iasi - Ungheni gas pipeline.