Press Review: Dorin Recean: Government wants to sign the EU accession treaty by 2028
President Maia Sandu's first reaction after Veronica Dragalin's scandalous accusations; the Government's ambitious plans regarding the signing of the EU accession treaty; an employee from Spații Verzi was convicted for the death of a child, who was crushed by a branch in Alunelul Park in Chisinau – these are the main headlines reviewed by the media.
President Maia Sandu has come up with the first reaction after the scandalous accusations of Veronica Dragalin in her last letter. Unimedia writes that the head of state categorically rejected the accusations and says that the discussion was not about the results of the vetting at the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, but aimed at "prioritizing the evaluation of prosecutors". "The former head of the Prosecutor's Office expressed concern that the activity of the institution, including prosecutors who deal with cases of national importance, will be blocked by vetting. Our recommendation was to talk to the officials in the Commission, so that these prosecutors can be evaluated more quickly and continue working on those cases", declared Maia Sandu.
In turn, Veronica Dragalin claims that she has evidence of discussions with the state leadership and says that she is ready to take a polygraph test to prove that she is telling the truth, headlines Moldova 1 TV. Dragalin insists that she warned many times regarding the way the pre-vetting process was conducted. Moreover, she says that she was prevented from forming a team she could trust. We recall that a letter signed by Veronica Dragalin allegedly revealed that President Maia Sandu and Prime Minister Dorin Recean asked the former head of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office for lists of "prosecutors whom she considers to be honest and who should promote the Vetting".
Radio Chisinau writes that at the General Assembly of Judges, President Maia Sandu warned that the reformed institutions in justice field have the responsibility to complete, without delay, the reforms in the system, so that the Republic of Moldova does not miss the "historic opportunity" of joining the EU. On the other hand, the President of the Constitutional Court, Domnica Manole, emphasized that the vetting process does not solve all the problems in justice field and should not endanger the dignity of the judicial profession.
The government wants to sign the EU accession treaty by 2028, writes Ziarul de Garda with reference to the statements of Prime Minister Dorin Recean. In an interview, the head of the cabinet of ministers warned that Moscow wants to "stop or reverse the European path of the Republic of Moldova" and aims to install a friendly administration in Chisinau, counting on the parliamentary elections in the fall. According to Dorin Recean, the Government is preparing for an increase in hybrid attacks, but is counting on the support of Western partners, especially Romania.
Radio Free Europe writes that the authorities in Chisinau hope to achieve economic growth of 5% by 2028, after carrying out over 40 reforms in various areas, thanks to the record-breaking 1.9 billion euros in aid provided by the EU for the economy of the Republic of Moldova. The reform agenda is part of the investment plan in our country's economy, announced in Chisinau by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on the eve of the presidential elections in the fall of 2024. The main areas in which EU money will be used are health, justice, agriculture, education, digitalization and environmental protection.
In the meantime, the EU will monitor the use of the aid of about 2 billion euros for Moldova. IPN offers an interview with Romanian MEP Siegfried Mureșan, who said that the competent European institutions will check how the money will be spent. If there are delays or things that have not been fulfilled in those reforms, then the European Commission will be forced to block some payments, says Mureșan. The money will come twice a year, and the tranches do not all have the same amount.
Experts warn about the inadmissibility criterion, provided for in the latest amendments to the Constitutional Court law. Moldova 1 TV consulted the opinion of the legal expert Alexandru Bot, who believes that this change may limit real access to constitutional justice and may generate major legal effects without a real debate, with arguments for and against, in a public hearing. The changes made assume that the High Court will be able to reject a complaint without examining it on the merits, through a reasoned decision that will have full legal force. The authorities justify the changes by the need to streamline the work of the constitutional court. However, experts believe that an initial refusal may completely close the door.
The Ministry of Justice is to examine whether the National Penitentiary Administration did not admit abuses in the process of amnesty of some prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment, writes TV 8. This is in the conditions in which they could not ask the court to be released, without a positive opinion from the institution. In parallel, the judicial authority requested checks in the courts that released the criminals or still have such files pending. The president of the country, Maia Sandu, is also of the opinion that abuses were admitted in the process of granting amnesty to prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment. The changes made to the Amnesty Law allowed the release of 9 criminals, of which only one returned to prison.
An employee of the "Spații Verzi" enterprise was found guilty of the death of a child in Alunelul Park in Chișinău, being crushed by a branch that fell on the tricycle he was riding. Ziarul de Garda writes that this happened three years after the tragic incident, the man being the only person accused in the case. Thus, the employee, who at the time of the accident was a foreman in the deforestation service, was sentenced to 1 year in prison. However, the court decided to conditionally suspend the sentence for a period of 2 years.
Jurnal.md proposes an analysis of the assets of some district presidents. Thus, in their statements on property, we find incomes of millions, luxury cars, hundreds of hectares of land and fat accounts. The object of the analysis is the assets of the presidents of the districts of Soroca, Ocnița and Drochia, some of whom doubled their incomes in a single year. The richest local leader in the northern districts is the president of the Soroca district, Veaceslav Rusnac, a member of the PSRM, followed by his party colleague, Iurie Plopa, the president of the Ocnița district. In Drochia, Vasile Cemortan, a member of the PAS, is among the richest district presidents.
The significant increase in the price of apartments has affected the real estate market and scared off buyers, writes mold-street.com. The publication proposes the analysis of real estate specialist Victor Cernomorcenco, which shows that the number of apartments sold in Chișinău and its suburbs decreased by approximately 28% in the first quarter of 2025. One of the main factors that determined the significant decrease in the number of real estate transactions was the increase in prices. Since the beginning of this year alone, apartments in Chisinau have increased in price by about 7%. On the other hand, he notes that demand on the real estate market remains high and exceeds supply by 30%.
