You know, in the diplomatic world, you’re always supposed to discuss even the most contentious issues with poise and equanimity. But earlier this week, special rapporteur to the Republic of Moldova, one Lithuanian politician named Petras Austrevicius, couldn’t control himself.

The European official hinted in this context that Brussels monitors the situation from the Republic of Moldova and is not influenced by the cases and condemnations for show, with which boast the governors from Chisinau.

The English version loses some of the flavor due to the translation. Supposedly, Austrevicius was saying these remarks in an interview with a Moldovan newspaper but I can’t find the original. Luckily, the SUPERB Romanian journalist Vitalie Calugareanu, working for DW, has a much more authentic run-down.

My translation:

At a time when the Moldovan government has been issuing statements that it is 60% done towards completing its obligations under the Association Agreement with the EU, Petras Austrevicius issued a strongly worded rebuttal.
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“We [the EU] are not blind! We see how corruption is putting the Republic of Moldova’s sovreignty at risk! The theft of money, the siphoning of state money into individual’s accounts is bad enough that we should be done and dusted with this relationship that we have with Chisinau. They stole a billion dollars! Don’t you realize that this is a lot of money?

Definitely read Calugareanu’s entire piece for the whole thing because it’s a doozy. The guy is the only journalist that I am aware of writing in the Romanian language who regularly interviews people AND goes to Brussels to get the EU scoop on what’s going on with Moldova. I’d give him a gold medal, if I could.

Meanwhile, cooler (more diplomatic) heads prevailed when writing up the final report on Austrevicius’s visit to Moldova. While less “raw”, it identifies an enormous number of problems. And while not openly calling Pavel “Mr. Midnight” Filip’s government the two-faced liars that they are, there is this paragraph:

The Council closely follows the situation in the Republic of Moldova. The European Union is convinced that the current difficulties can be solved only via constructive dialogue among all political forces in the country, which takes into account the expectations of the people of the Republic of Moldova.

Petras, if you’re reading this, I feel you, bro. Moldova is a wild and weird place that would test the patient of a saint :)

We all want the best for Moldova but I think it’s pretty clear by now that RM is in no way, shape, or form ready for what being a member of the EU would entail.