VIDEO // Moldovan president says right now there is majority that supports EU accession, leadership acts to this end

Regional and global developments are making the survival of countries such as Moldova increasingly complicated, while EU accession is becoming a realistic objective for protecting sovereignty, President Maia Sandu has said in an interview given with British journalists. At the same time, the president said that, if a referendum were held, she would vote in favor of reunification with Romania. However, this issue would not enjoy broad support among the political class, which is why the goal of European integration stays the only solution for the survival of Moldova.

During the discussion, the head of state highlighted the growing difficulties faced by small states in the current geopolitical context.

“Look at what is happening around Moldova today, look at what is happening in the world. It is becoming increasingly difficult for a country like Moldova to survive, to exist as a democracy, as a sovereign country,” Maia Sandu said.

“As president of the Republic of Moldova, I understand that there is no majority supporting unification with Romania, but there is a majority that supports accession to the European Union and we are acting to this end. It is a much more realistic goal and it helps us protect our sovereignty,” Maia Sandu said.

Nevertheless, when asked directly whether she personally supports unification with Romania, Maia Sandu replied without hesitation: “If we had a referendum, I would vote for reunification with Romania.”

She explained that, at the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s, in the context of national revival movements, there was significant support for this idea, but the absence of a referendum made it impossible to accurately assess the will of the population at that time.

“If we judge by the large number of people who took part in the national revival movement and by the hundreds of thousands of people who came out into the Great National Assembly Square, we can say that there would have been support for reunification with Romania,” the Chisinau leader said.

In the same interview, Maia Sandu also referred to the threats coming from the Russian Federation, saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin is seeking to expand his influence over Europe. According to her, the Kremlin’s involvement in the internal affairs of the European Union is much deeper than many European citizens perceive.

This is the first time since taking office that Maia Sandu has explicitly said that she would vote in favor of reunification with Romania at a referendum, while stressing that, at present, the European path remains the priority and most realistic goal for of Moldova.

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