BRUSSELS, Dec 14 (Reuters) – Moldova aspires to join the European Union and the former Soviet republic has told Russia that this is its choice, Moldovan President Maia Sandu said on Tuesday.
Her comments in an interview with Reuters were her clearest public remarks on Moldova’s pro-Western course. Since Moldova won independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, pro-Russian and pro-EU politicians have vied for control.
Sandu, whose reformist party won a landslide victory in parliament in July, is seen in Moldova as a symbol of change who offers Brussels a foreign policy success in a country almost bankrupted by endemic corruption six years ago.
But on the eve of a summit with leaders of the EU and other eastern European countries including Ukraine, Sandu said that Russia was making Moldova’s life difficult with higher natural gas prices. She said it was also up to the West to help catch criminals who had stolen Moldova’s money and were at large in Europe.
“Moldova wants to become a member of the EU one day,” said Sandu, who has avoided clear-cut references on the country’s orientation since winning power in late 2020, given Moldova’s dependency on Russian gas.
“We’d like to get there sooner than later,” she said in the interview at a Brussels hotel.
To view the full article click: https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/exclusive-moldovan-president-russia-joining-eu-is-our-choice-2021-12-14/?fbclid=IwAR2gtqFSJ9lEfkGniPTpVgeaofM-i3z-yLPPCmmcqXwkPKXRE-XVkNxkdIs
