EU ambassadors have agreed to the “political goal” of moving towards a visa-free regime with Moldova in a boost for the pro-EU coalition in Chisinau ahead of November elections.
The ambassadors’ decision on Thursday (21 October) could see foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg on Monday task the European Commission with drawing up an Action Plan for visa-free travel for Moldova, on the model of a plan already drafted for Ukraine.
The ambassadors could not agree on the final wording of the ministers’ communique because France insisted on language underlining that EU countries will have to approve the Moldova plan if the commission prepares one.
“All the discussions were about the visa issue. The European Ccommission is rushing to start things, but we have to make sure all the necessary guarantees are there,” one EU diplomat told this website.
Moldova – a post-Soviet country of 4 million people sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine on the eastern fringe of the EU – accelerated in EU integration terms after a pro-Western coalition ousted the pro-Moscow Communist administration.
A subsequent parliamentary deadlock and a failed referendum on changing the presidential system triggered early elections, which are due on 28 November. Amid widespread disenchantment due to the financial crisis and infighting in the pro-Western gang, the Communist side could stage a comeback.
Progress is also being held back by a frozen conflict in the country’s easterly region of Transnistria, where Russia still has what it calls “peacekeeping” troops.
