— Thanks for taking time to talk to us here on Good Morning Europe. Are you looking forward to going back to the country or are you out of a job?

— Yes, absolutely. The country is in a crucial moment. It has a big reform agenda ahead. For the last years it has been governed by an oligarch. That oligarch lost power in February and now he does not want to leave that power. As we stand today, a majority of members of parliament and the President of the country appointed a new government whose function is to reform the country and to take it closer to the European Union.

— That’s not exactly how people on the streets are seeing it though, is it, right now?

— There was a deliberate choice by the new government, by Maia Sandu, not to call people on the street in order to avoid clashes and to make sure there is no violence, but if you look at official statements from the US, from the EU and from the Council of EU, all issued yesterday, they are all recognizing Maia Sandu as the new Prime Minister and they are recognizing the Parliament as a functioning legitimate parliament, and they do not recognize the dissolution of the Parliament by Pavel Filip or the Constitutional Court.

Moldova has a big problem with the independence of the judiciary. Last year, the EU suspended financing of Moldova precisely because the court system of Moldova has been considered politicized, this is all in EU official documents. The EU has been criticizing Moldovan courts for politization and lack of transparency for several years. And now, these courts are in the middle of this crisis, but the important thing is that the new government is supported by a majority of voters. These voters expressed their will in February and the outgoing government simply does not want to leave power.

— Do you then believe that the Constitutional Court and its decision that it made this weekend?

— Absolutely not, this is a politicized court, and as I said, there is a strong record of official EU and US statements saying that the Moldovan political (n.r. judicial) system is politicized, it is not independent, it is subject to political influence, and the decision of the CC has been a decision taken under the influence of the political party which lost power at the February parliamentary elections and does not want to give up power through constitutional means.

— You yourself were only appointed on Saturday, so does this mean that you’re out of a job now?

— In what sense? I’m just taking over a new job.

— I see, ok, so addressing you as the acting Foreign Minister. So is democracy dead in your country, would you say?

— Absolutely not. Part of the reason why this crisis is happening is that the population and the voters of Moldova do not want to be run by a government that is not supported by a majority of voters. What happened in the last days pro-Russian and pro-European parties teamed up in order to save democracy and to make sure that the country is governed according to the democratic rules of the game. The February parliamentary elections have been recognized as free and fair by the OSCE, by the Council of Europe, by the EU, the US, so if anything what happens today in Moldova is a sign of the vibrancy of Moldova’s democracy and is a sign that Moldovan voters do not want to be governed by a party that is supported by a minority of voters but does not want to leave the government.

— What are you expecting to happen next?

— We’re clearly facing a constitutional stand-off and now the situation from an international standpoint is very clear. All the international organizations are supporting the new government. In the next few days, what should happen is for the outgoing party which lost the elections, they should give up their control of state institutions, they should withdraw from government buildings and let the new government assume their powers.

Good Morning Europe, Nicu Popescu from Paris.
Source: www.euronews.com