Luxembourg, 17/04/2002 (Agence Europe) - Even though he respected diplomatic form, Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Pique was very clear at the press conference that followed the meeting of the EU-Moldova Co-operation Council, in Luxembourg on Tuesday: "Stability demands the respect of the Rule of Law. Moldova must become a fully democratic State (…) for co-operation to be as intense as we would like". The President of the EU Council explained that the Union wants to keep-up the political dialogue and help the country emerge from the political, economic and social crisis in which it finds itself, but Moldova must "overcome the obstacles to democratic consolidation". He stressed the extremely worrying situation in Transdniestrie and the importance that the Union attaches to the role of the OSCE and the mediators: Russia and Ukraine. Moldovan Prime Minister Vasile Tarlev said that "closer co-operation with the European Union remains the priority of my government" and hoped for increased EU assistance. He referred to his country's economic situation, the efforts made to combat drug trafficking and the trafficking in human beings, as well as the fight his government must engage in against "nationalism, separatism and terrorism".
Europe has reason to believe that this dialogue of the deaf is a fairly good reflection of the general content of the meeting. Other than a very lengthy exposé of his country's economic situation, the Moldovan Prime Minister provided no concrete answers to the concerns of the European Union concerning the respect of fundamental democratic principles and dialogue with the opposition. Regarding the disappearance of the Christian-Democrat deputy, Vlad Cubreacov, Mr. Tarlev simply said that the investigation was underway.