The barbed wire at the Prut River, on the Republic of Moldova’s
(Moldova) border with Romania and, thus, with Europe will be
removed by March 20101
European integration is the main objective of Moldova’s
Government for the coming years. Assuring political and economic
stability and security; finding a solution for the Transnistrian conflict
and withdrawal of foreign troops from the country; strengthening the
cooperation with its main strategic partners and neighbors (Romania,
Ukraine, Russia, Community of Independent States (CIS), EU and its
member states, Council of Europe, OSCE, NATO and USA) are other
important priorities.
. This way, the last soviet “wall” will be torn.
Maybe this symbolic action will open the door to the European Union
(EU). In recent months, millions of people were celebrating the 20th
anniversary of the revolutionary events of 1989 in Central and
Eastern Europe, which resulted in the fall of the Berlin Wall, the
collapse of the USSR and the communism epoch. Moldova could not
fully enjoy these celebrations, since after 20 years the country still did
not “come back to Europe” as its neighbors Romania and the Baltic
States did. During the last years, the Moldovan communist
Government has been looking both to the East and to the West and
did not follow coherent and constructive politics. With the newly
elected democratic Government there is hope for change.
The purpose of this paper is to present and make a critical
analysis of the status quo of the institutional relations between
Moldova and the EU. The first chapter will introduce a short historical
overview of Moldova. The second chapter will analyse the
Transnistrian conflict and its challenges (2.1.), and will discuss the
perspectives for the conflict solution as well (2.2.). In the third
chapter, the current political and economic situation will be drafted. A
special chapter number four will be dedicated to the energy policy, since it is such a crucial issue for Moldova (4.1. Gas, 4.1.1. Moldova’s
gas crises, 4.2. Oil, 4.3. Electricity, 4.4. Moldova and the EU Energy
Community, 4.5. Evaluation and recommendations). The institutional
dimensions of the EU - Republic of Moldova relationship will be
discussed in chapter five, namely: 5.1. Legal framework, 5.2. The
European Neighborhood Policy and the Republic of Moldova, 5.2.1.
Evaluation of the ENP for Moldova, and 5.3. A critical analysis of the
EU Eastern Partnership and Moldova. The final conclusions will look
at the European integration perspectives for Moldova.