Brussels, 20/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - On 19 March, Moldova's President Nicolae Timofti - who fears a repetition in Moldova of the Ukrainian scenario - called on the European Union to accelerate the signature of the association agreement, which is planned for August 2014 at the latest. “I hope that we will have the support of the European Union to sign the association agreement as quickly as possible. It's important in the current context in the region”, said Timofti, after a meeting with his Romanian counterpart, Traian Basescu. “My country has asked the Union to offer it a clear prospect of accession”, he added.
Peter Stano, the spokesperson for Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Füle, underlined that the heads of state and government “have said very clearly that they want to sign as quickly as possible - in August 2014 at the latest”. “We need to wait for the two parties to be ready”, he added, stating that the technical procedures are under way and the signature will come when these procedures are ready. For example, a legal comparison of the texts needs to be carried out to be sure that they are identical between the languages, and the agreement must be translated into the official languages of the EU. Stano was not able to say when this will be done.
On Tuesday 18 March, Mikhail Burla, the head of the parliament of the separatist region of Transnistria, asked the head of the Russian Duma to begin steps for Transnistria to rejoin Russia. Moldova fears pressure from Russia and a repetition in Transnistria of what happened with Crimea. (CG)