00:00Let's talk about today's EU Moldova Summit now with Moldova's Foreign Minister Mihaly Popsoy, who joins me here on the
00:06set.
00:07Good morning, Minister. Great to have you with us.
00:09Good morning. It's a pleasure to be back.
00:10So that cluster that I mentioned earlier matters because it's not confined to technical lawmaking, if I may say.
00:19It examines whether democratic institutions are stable, whether corruption is being tackled, whether the courts are independent,
00:26whether public money is traceable, and whether fundamental rights are protected in practice.
00:33How do you feel about these talks?
00:35Well, these talks are very important to us.
00:38And the fact that Moldova has been able to reach this important milestone a few days ago, opening the clusters
00:44and now having our second Moldova European Union Summit,
00:48is a testament to the effort and to the progress that Moldovan institutions and Moldovan society is reaching under very
00:55difficult circumstances.
00:56When it comes to the fundamentals, we would not have it any other way.
01:01It is very much in our interest, in the interest of Moldovan citizens, to make sure that we consolidate Moldovan
01:07institutions,
01:08that we make democratic consolidation irreversible, that we deliver to the promise we made to our citizens to combat effectively
01:15corruption,
01:16to consolidate democratic freedoms.
01:18This is, at the end, part and parcel of our political agenda.
01:21If it also helps us to join the European Union, it's great.
01:24But our commitment is to our citizens back home, and we are thankful that this commitment is paying off,
01:31including in the opening of the first cluster on fundamentals.
01:35I want to ask you about Russia that continues to exert pressure on Moldova through disinformation energy leverage,
01:42and, of course, the unresolved issue of Transnistria.
01:47Is the EU doing enough to help you guys with this, or are you still largely on your own?
01:54The European Union and EU member states have been incredibly supportive of the Republic of Moldova throughout the past years,
02:01when circumstances have been very difficult, including in the energy sphere.
02:05But, of course, we are in the driver's seat, and we need to deliver on our own efforts back home.
02:11And we are working tirelessly, proactively, to engage with the folks from the left bank in the Transnistrian region of
02:17the Republic of Moldova
02:18to make sure that all Moldovan citizens, no matter where they live, on which part of the river,
02:23benefit from Moldova's EU accession.
02:25So it's an important process in making sure that Moldova advances on its European path.
02:31And the two tracks, the European integration and the integration of the Transnistrian region,
02:36are two parallel tracks, because otherwise we would give the Kremlin leverage and de facto veto over our accession process.
02:44But we are working hard to make sure that all Moldovan citizens benefit like they had already benefited
02:50from the deep and comprehensive free trade area, which the Transnistrian region of Moldova has benefited a lot as well.
02:56All right, Michal Popsoy, the foreign minister of Moldova there.
03:00Thank you, sir, for helping us understand your perspective.
Comments