Juncker told German newspaper Welt am Sonntag that the European Union should quickly reach out to Moldova with an association agreement like the one it got underway with Ukraine last week.
"After the events in Ukraine, it is now a matter of great urgency that the Europeans sign an association agreement with Moldova very quickly, that is, in the coming weeks," he said.
A former Soviet state with a restive Russian-speaking minority in its Transdniestr region, Moldova has expressed fears that developments in neighbouring Ukraine could set an example for its own separatists in the wake of Russia's annexation of the Crimean peninsula.
- Moldova, along with Georgia, initialled an association agreement with the 28-nation EU in November. The countries are currently expected to sign the accords for closer ties by 2015.
- Moldovan President Nicolae Timofti has urged the EU to hasten the process given the events in Ukraine, where anger at the pro-Kremlin regime's move away from an EU accord led to its ouster, and Russia's subsequent absorption of Crimea.
Juncker backed that call, saying: "We must beat (Russian President Vladimir) Putin to the punch, he needs to know that he cannot do in Moldova what he did in Crimea."
- He said the EU needed to "stabilise Moldova and bind it to the West". "Otherwise, Moldova could become the next victim of Russian aggression," he said.
Wedged between Romania to the west and Ukraine to the east, Moldova with 3.5 million people is the poorest European country with a per capita income of $2,037 (1,475 euros) in 2012, according to the World Bank.
- Ukraine's interim prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk signed the political provisions of a landmark association accord with EU leaders in defiance of Russia in Brussels on Friday.
European conservatives this month picked Juncker as their candidate to be the next European Commission president after elections in May.
timesofindia.indiatimes.com
23/3/14
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Ο πρόεδρος της Ρουμανίας θεωρεί τη Μολδαβία ρουμανική γη. -Η επανένωση των εθνών θα πρέπει να γίνει το τρίτο μεγαλύτερο σχέδιο για τους Ρουμάνους.
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Russia regrets Europarliament’s resolution on Transdniestria. -European deputies as experts on such a complicated and delicate issue is deplorable
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Transnistria FM lauds Russian support amid Moldovan, Ukrainian pressure...
ReplyDeleteMoldova’s self-proclaimed republic of Transnistria withstands pressure both from Moldova and neighboring Ukraine with an enormous support from Russia, republic’s Foreign Minister Nina Shtanski said on Tuesday.
“We constantly feel pressure on behalf of Moldova and Ukraine,” she said. “Russia play the key role in overcoming the consequences of such pressure.”
Shtanski said that the republic has been under the economic blockade since 2006, when Ukraine upon Moldova’s request stopped the transit of Transnistrian goods via its territory without Moldovan-approved documents.
Speaking about Russia’s support of Transnistria, republic’s top diplomat pointed to Moscow’s consistent policy regarding this issue.
“Moscow provides here (in Transdniestria) peace and stability, renders financial assistance to vulnerable social groups. Construction of new schools and hospitals is paid with money provided by Russia,” she said.
Such support, she said, makes residents of Transnistria feel like they are part of “the Russian world.”
“Hundreds of thousands of Russian citizens live here and approximately the same number of people of various nationalities identify themselves as Russian compatriots,” she added.
The diplomat also said that her republic hopes for the soonest improvements in neighboring Ukraine, which has been in a political turmoil in recent months. She said that about 100,000 Ukrainian nationals reside in Transnistria and the republic cannot be indifferent to the current developments in Ukraine.
http://en.itar-tass.com/world/725253?utm_medium=rss20
25/3/14
Washington aide la Moldavie à renforcer ses frontières...
ReplyDeleteLes Etats-Unis vont octroyer à la Moldavie dix millions de dollars pour renforcer la sécurité à ses frontières, en pleine période de tensions concernant la Transdniestrie russophone, a annoncé dimanche une responsable de la diplomatie américaine.
La Russie maintient plusieurs milliers de soldats dans la région séparatiste russophone de Transdniestrie, le long de la frontière ukrainienne. Le rattachement par Moscou de la Crimée a suscité l'inquiétude que la Russie adopte la même attitude dans d'autres ex-pays soviétiques qui ont des régions séparatistes.
"Il y a une inquiétude particulière en ce qui concerne la situation autour de la Transdniestrie", a reconnu la secrétaire d?État adjointe américaine pour l'Europe, Victoria Nuland, en visite à Chisinau.
Des responsables de Transdniestrie ont appelé en mars les parlementaires russes à préparer une loi permettant l'absorption de la région par la Russie.
Moscou de son côté s'est plaint que la frontière de la Transdniestrie était bloquée par la Moldavie et l'Ukraine.
"Chisinau et les nouvelles autorités ukrainiennes ont pratiquement organisé un blocus" de la Transdniestrie, a observé le ministre des Affaires étrangères russe Sergueï Lavrov dans une interview diffusée samedi.............http://www.rtl.be/info/monde/europe/1080087/washington-aide-la-moldavie-a-renforcer-ses-frontieres
30/3/14