Moldova reforms a headache for EU

By Andrew Beatty

Date: 02/03/06

The slow pace of reform in Moldova is worrying EU diplomats who are complaining that the country is not doing enough to move towards European norms.

Speaking on condition on anonymity, several officials this week expressed their concern that Moldova was not implementing a joint action plan with the EU to strengthen administrative and judicial capacity and to enhance freedom of expression.

The EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, on his way to an EU-Ukraine troika meeting in Kiev, is expected to visit Moldova today (2 March) to discuss implementation of the action plan.

The Council of Ministers is preparing for a ministerial meeting with Moldova on 11 April in Luxembourg.

Diplomats met this week to discuss a case which is being described as "symptomatic" of Moldova’s judicial problems - the detention of former defence minister, Valeriu Pasat.

Pasat was arrested in March last year and was sentenced to ten years in prison for defrauding the Moldovan government after he sold 21 nuclear-ready MiG 29 aircraft to the US for EUR 34 million, despite receiving an offer from an unnamed South Korean company for EUR 79m. Pasat has since been accused of planning a coup d’état and murder. EU officials have expressed concerns about the handling of the case, which took place behind closed doors.

Pasat’s supporters say his prosecution is motivated by his links to the opposition Democratic Moldova Bloc and to the Russian government.

Before his arrest Pasat had been working for RAO Unified Energy Systems, which is run by the Russian oligarch Anatoly Chubais and owned by the Russian government.

Leonid Gozman, a board member at RAO Unified Energy Systems recently said that Pasat’s case had little to do with his judgement in selling MiGs.

Article reports that EU diplomats expressed their concerns about the slow implementation in Moldova of a joint action plan with the European Union to strengthen administrative and judicial capacity and to enhance freedom of expression.

EEAS: Countries: Moldova http://eeas.europa.eu/moldova/index_en.htm

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