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If Moldova joins the EU, Transnistria will become a destination for migrants and polluting industries, according to a pro-Kremlin publication, which also reads that the promises of European integration for the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine were made only in order to distance the two countries from Russia and that none of them has, in fact, any chance of becoming a member of the EU.
NEWS: The European Council has decided to start negotiations on the accession of Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova to the European Union, despite the fact neither of them meets the strict criteria for joining the Union.
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The accelerated progress in the process of European integration reflects the gloomy prospects for the West regarding this macro-region, which is practically slipping out of their hands. Therefore, they can promise anything to Chisinau and Kyiv, knowing that they will not be held accountable for that. Instead, the Western Balkans stand still, as they can still be kept in the antechamber.
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If we were to assume that these two countries will still end up in the EU, then Tiraspol will have no other options than to accept European integration. This is an extremely pessimistic scenario for Transnistria, as it means the continuation of the stagnation of the economy that has been recorded for many years. The European Union has already given Transnistria everything it could: a regime of autonomous trade preferences and the exploitation of the republic's human resources. All that remains is to transfer the harmful industries to the Dniester and to direct the flows of migrants from the Middle East to Transnistria. Fortunately, the probability of this scenario is extremely low, and the illusion of European integration will remain an illusion.
NARRATIVES: 1. Joining the EU is just a promise for countries like the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, meant to distance them from Moscow's influence. 2. Integration into the EU means poverty, and the new members will become a destination for waste and migrants from the East.
LOCAL CONTEXT/ETHOS: The European Council decided on December 14 to open accession negotiations with the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, a year and a half after they obtained the status of candidate countries. The Council's decision was preceded by heated debates triggered by Hungary's announcement that it would not support such a decision because Ukraine was not ready for accession. The narrative was heavily promoted by the pro-Russian Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban, considered an ally of Moscow within the EU. However, Orban was persuaded not to veto though and left the room when the decision to open negotiations was put to a vote.
On June 1, the Republic of Moldova hosted the second summit of the European Political Community, considered an important success of the Chisinau diplomacy, but also of the image of the Republic of Moldova in the EU, and then Brussels officially stated for the first time, through the voice of the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, that the Republic of Moldova could join the EU without the separatist region of Transnistria , controlled by a pro-Russian regime, following the model of Cyprus. The existence of this enclave, where ammunition and Russian soldiers are stationed, was considered one of the main impediments to joining the EU.
The anti-European propaganda of Russian origin is not new; liberal democracies, with strong civil societies and independent media, are direct threats to an authoritarian regime like Russia's, especially since, beyond political freedoms, they also offer economic prosperity. That is why the Putin regime is obsessed with the European Union – and this obsession was seen when Russia attacked Ukraine in 2014, right after the pro-Europeans came to power. Russia also launched a hybrid war against the Republic of Moldova as soon as the pro-Europeans came to power, out of the same fear that the extension of the democratic model in the ex-Soviet space would eventually show the Russians that they could be ruled other than by an authoritarian leader.
PURPOSE: To lower the European aspirations of Moldovan citizens. To feed the phobias of a part of the population, especially the inhabitants of the Transnistrian separatist region regarding the alleged dangers that EU integration brings.
WHY THE NARRATIVES ARE FALSE: The statements in the article start from the false association of the decision to launch accession negotiations for Moldova and Ukraine with the integration itself. The two states still have a series of stages and discussions to go through before obtaining the status of member countries. At this stage, accession is not even discussed, an approximate date accepted by the European leaders being the year 2030, together with the candidate countries from the Western Balkans. The decision of the European Council of December 14 is, therefore, a classic stage in the EU accession procedures that all the new member states went through.
In the so-called “ 2023 Enlargement Package” , the European Commission refers to the progress and developments in all the candidate or potential candidate states of the Western Balkans, which contradicts the claims in the article that they would have been left behind at the expense of Moldova and Ukraine.
Associating the EU with poverty and migration supports the narratives launched by the Kremlin to feed the fears of a part of the population in the region, but also to reduce the number of supporters of European integration. In fact, European integration implies trade liberalization and access to the richest common market in the world. All the new member states, most of them from the former socialist camp, have benefited from the European integration, their living standards and the incomes of the population have increased, and none of them have been invaded by migrants. As far as polluting industries are concerned, the EU focuses precisely on combating pollution and reducing emissions, and member states are obliged to align themselves with the European standards so that not only moving the polluting industries to a post-integration Transnistria is out of the question but, on the contrary, the current polluting enterprises in the separatist region would be forced to take measures to reduce pollution.
The process of joining the European Union is a complex one, which involves a series of transformations of the countries that want to join the European community. Obtaining candidate status and opening negotiations are preliminary stages that also involve a series of reforms.
The Republic of Moldova had to implement a series of reforms to get closer to the European Union, a process marked by the signing of the Association Agreement with the EU, the liberalization of the visa regime, the granting of candidate status and, more recently, the decision to launch negotiations. Furthermore, it is up to Chisinau to continue adopting reforms in order to become a full member. However, throughout the entire EU rapprochement process, Brussels supports Chisinau politically, financially and economically, so that the accession process itself represents a win.
Finally, this whole process was triggered at the request of the Republic of Moldova, so the thesis that Brussels is maneuvering to distance it from Russia is hilarious to say the least.
GRAIN OF TRUTH: The start of negotiations is not a guarantee for accession to the European Union. For this it is necessary for the candidate countries to fulfill their commitments and carry out the necessary reforms established in the negotiations. For example, Turkey started accession negotiations in 2005, , but they have been at a standstill for several years. In the case of Serbia, for example, the European Council decided to open negotiations in June 2013, but, they have not been completed either.
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