On Tuesday, in an interview with Reuters, Moldovan President Maia Sandu repeated her administration’s plans to join the European Union (EU) amid gas supply dispute with Russian oil and gas giant Gazprom.
“Moldova wants to become a member of the EU one day,” said Sandu as she made her pro-Western stance clear. “We’d like to get there sooner than later” she clarified. When asked whether Russia would hinder the former Soviet republic’s EU aspirations, Sandu replied, “We will insist that it is our choice (to join the EU) and we would like other countries to respect that choice,” adding that she has already relayed this information to Moscow.
Sandu has been in power since last year and her Party of Action and Solidarity secured a landslide victory in this this year’s parliamentary elections, giving her a parliamentary majority to boot.
Moldova has for long been the poorest country in Europe due to rampant corruption. In contrast, Sandu’s reformist platform centres around weeding out corruption, raising living standards, and building a robust economy in a country that is torn between pro-Western and pro-Russian factions.
Moldova has previously refrained from taking a stance on its EU aspirations due to Chișinău’s heavy gas dependency on Moscow. In fact, in October, Moldova declared a state of emergency after Russian oil and gas giant Gazprom increased prices from $550 per thousand cubic metres to $790. Moldova and its European allies condemned the move as a form of political blackmail.
Both the EU and Moldova have accused Gazprom of demanding political concessions from the country, including asking Moldova's newly elected pro-Western government to distance itself from Brussels in exchange for lower gas prices. Experts have argued that aside from looking to pressure the country’s pro-Western leader, Russia is also trying to dissuade Sandu from reclaiming the breakaway region of Transnistria.
The Kremlin has denied accusations of Gazprom trying to extract political concessions, saying the negotiations are “purely commercial.” At the same time, Gazprom has said it would suspend gas supply to Moldova if the country fails to pay for previous supplies.
Speaking about this debt, Sandu said in the Reuters interview: “When the (gas) prices went up so much, Gazprom started to talk about some debts that they claim have been there since 1994. Of course this has been used (in negotiations). We believe the debt should be much lower.” She confirmed that her government will challenge Gazprom’s $709 million demand made last month.
The Moldovan leader also mentioned that “Unfortunately, we do still have the Russian troops on our territory,” referring to Transnistria, which is internationally recognised as a part of Moldova.
Sandu ended the interview by calling on Western nations to help Moldova in arresting the country’s corrupt elites, particularly Vladimir Plahotniuc, who is accused of siphoning $1 billion from Moldovan banks in 2014-2015. “We count on international support because the biggest crooks who stole from our people left the country,” Sandu said.
Sandu’s interview comes ahead of an EU summit that will see the participation of leaders from Eastern Europe and Ukraine.