mr president moldova is europe's poorest country and is also landlocked but has recently had a successful democratic election
the new parliament must now choose its president wisely
however it would undoubtedly be more prosperous and secure if it did not suffer from an artificial territorial division
very little progress has been made towards a resolution of the frozen conflict in transnistria a problem which goes back some seventeen years
this is largely because russia bankrolls the illegal regime in tiraspol and continues to garrison troops in transnistria
we can usually judge russia's sincerity by its degree of commitment to resolving conflicts like this one but the fact is that in transnistria as well as in georgia and ukraine russia cannot resist interfering
russia maintains that moldova as a former soviet republic is in its sphere of influence
such concepts are outdated
moldova as a manifestly sovereign and european country could one day join nato and even the eu
the eu must redouble efforts now to resolve outstanding issues in moldova and give it the appropriate financial assistance it requires but this will not happen by naively resetting relations with the kremlin
