On Monday 3 June, the European Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy, Johannes Hahn, called on political parties in Moldova to discuss how to form a Parliament as soon as possible.
Parliamentary elections were held on 24 February (see EUROPE 12201/4).
“I have urged all the key players to sit together and look for a solution for the sake of the citizens of the country and the country itself”, he said after a trip to the country, where he met with the leaders of the three main political parties (the Socialist Party, the Democratic Party and ACUM), Prime Minister Pavel Filip and President Igor Dodon.
According to the Commissioner, having a coalition agreement is not a “big deal”, provided there is political will, courage and responsibility.
And while Mr Hahn said he was not there to impose or push for anything, he added that the EU would like “a stable government, based on a solid majority in Parliament, to allow Moldovan politicians to continue their work to further improve the living standards of the population”.
He stated that the future government should be in favour of democracy, the Rule of law, the independence of the judiciary, transparency and freedom of the media, and that it should also be engaged in a social market economy and the implementation of agreements with the EU, i.e. the Association Agreement and the deep and comprehensive free trade area.
“So far, there have been no significant talks (between the parties), at least officially. This is rather surprising in a pluralist system where no party can rely on an absolute majority”, the Commissioner stressed, while indicating that officials now seemed open to discussion.
Because time is running out: according to Mr Hahn, forming a government by the end of June is imperative in order to prevent the president from dissolving the assembly and calling early elections. Indeed, according to Mr Hahn, such a decision would have negative economic consequences for the country.
“If there are snap elections, there could be a risk that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) would have to suspend its program”, which would also have consequences for EU macrofinancial assistance, he explained, adding that if the IMF program is suspended, the EU could not resume its support. “It would lead to tremendous financial damage”, he warned.
The payment of macrofinancial assistance has been suspended since July 2018 due to the invalidation of the municipal elections in Chisinau (see EUROPE 12056/15). (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)