The British Ambassador in Chisinau: Moldova must develop on the path to the EU, to democracy and prosperity
The Voice of Bessarabia: And yet, for the Republic of Moldova to reach the European Union, it has homework to do, the homework is to want to implement the reforms, and the reform that should be discussed the most is this justice reform and to make sure that they are delivered in this domain. reformed, justice, but also in the fight against corruption. How do you see the steps being taken in this field today?
Steven Fisher: Let’s remember that only 3-4 years ago the Republic of Moldova was considered a captured state, controlled by oligarchs, now the situation has changed and the country is respected internationally. It is easy to conclude that the reforms are going too slowly and the frustration of the citizens can be understood, because they want results, but I think I have seen progress, I am not an expert in the field, but…
Voice of Bessarabia: I actually saw it a report that Transparency International published etcit looks like Republic of Moldova he would have gone up a few steps precisely in the fight against corruptionyou
Steven Fisher: Correct! And the Republic of Moldova is part of that small group of countries that rose by 30-35 points in the list. So, congratulations to the Republic of Moldova for this!
I think importantly, this list of Transparency International is a price signal that the perception of public opinion is a good sign, but the most important thing is that the reality is changing. I think the Ministry of Justice is making very good progress in what the pre-vetting found, it’s not easy to do, it’s very difficult to do this, but they’ve made progress.
Voice of Bessarabia: After the chesttions applied by the United States of America to the Moldovan oligarchs Vlad Plahotniuc and Ilan Șor, and the Government of Great Britain imposed sanctions on these two, tfollowing the inclusion on the list of sanctions, the assets of Plahotniuc and Șor from Great Britain they are Englishtits. tohe could explain it to usţi, to clarify themyou and those chave watch this show what does this mean, that they were frozenassets on the territory ofyour country?
Steven Fisher: Quite simply, any assets that these two individuals have in our country or on British territory abroad must be frozen. Any British citizen is banned from doing any business with these two sanctioned individuals and they are also banned from entering the country. It is a regime of stability sanctions 3 years ago in our country, these two are the first to be sanctioned, it is still a small group, but there will be more.
Voice of Bessarabia: That is, the list could include more and other people?
Steven Fisher: Yes, the list is open, because unfortunately there are a lot of corrupt people in the world. British policy fights high-level corruption and a decision taken in December included these two Moldovans in the list because of high-level corruption acts committed against citizens of these countries in previous years.
Voice of Bessarabia: So what is clear to me? That they will not be able to enter the UK, they will not be able to benefit from banking services ţyour country?
Steven Fisher: Yes, and any bank accounts or properties they have in our territory are frozen.
Voice of Bessarabia: But to be frozenţate still does not mean that and fall under the incidentcriminal case, because, after all, justiţhe has to tell himself the verdict?
Steven Fisher: Exactly, they will be understood until the justice will say the word.
The Voice of Bessarabia: The fugitive deputy Ilan Şor hired a law firm from Great Britain, they demanded immediatethey a pause in the examination aszulu here, in the Republic of Moldova. And a loti citadelţwe wonder if London, Great BrItanos helps or confuses the Republic of Moldova to hold certain people accountableand with the law.
Steven Fisher: First, we need to make a distinction between London and a law firm there.
Certainly, London, the government, our statute, our aid institutions and they want to continue to help the Republic of Moldova in the fight against corruption, but this does not mean that the law must be broken and, in this specific case, any sanctioned person has the right to legal defense .
So there is in our sanctions regime, this possibility that the sanctioned individual has access to legal defense by licensed British legal professionals, they just need to apply for a license from our government.
Voice of Bessarabia: And now it’s clear, do they have this acceptance?
Steven Fisher: I can’t speak to an individual case, but in general I saw on television here that this British lawyer said he would represent Mr. Shor in court under British law.
Voice of Bessarabia: But in Britain there are more people who have fled from Republic of Moldova etcand in their list are Veaceslav Platon, Gheorghe Cavcaliuc, Constantin Botnari et.a., it’s so uetor to-ţhe found themetyou refuge in your country?
Steven Fisher: I cannot comment on individual cases, but the answer to this question is general.
Speaking in general, yes, unfortunately, it is possible for dubious persons to arrive in our country, but that does not mean that they are welcome there. Obviously, we are a big country with 60 million people, and freedom of entry and exit, but when the first legal requests of the courts in any country then they are examined and we take them very seriously.
Our government policy is to make the UK a hostile territory for all forms of crime. So it is not easy to stay with us, to give refuge to those who flee from justice, on the contrary, any person who is wanted by the courts in his country will not be able to stay safely with us, because when we receive such we take official requests seriously and seriously. we try to collaborate with courts, institutions abroad to bring to justice any person accused of crimes in the respective countries.
Voice of Bessarabia: You said that the courtsstructural from the Republic of Moldova must prepare a good, convincing file from a legal point of view in order to be able to request Maria B.the ritans be fulfilled?
Steven Fisher: Yes, and I’m not referring to specific cases, but generally to what the law says. And I have a very concrete and positive cooperation in the field of justice with the Moldovan authorities.
Voice of Bessarabia: Thank you very much for making this effort to have this discussion in Romanian. You would learnto the Romanian language, but in Republic of Moldova there are still ethnic groups that do not know the state language of the Republic Moldavia, even though 31 years have passed since independence was proclaimed. This hayomen has an explanation, Mr. Ambassador?
Steven Fisher: That’s an interesting statement. I don’t know how many people know Romanian or can’t speak it well.
Voice of Bessarabia: Asamenea stratistics are probably not made.
Steven Fisher: I don’t know what the real situation is on this, maybe it’s hard to learn.
Voice of Bessarabia: But dvs. it is difficult for you to learn the Romanian language, because you know it well?
Steven Fisher: see how i speak…
Voice of Bessarabia: But you admit that in Britain may be someone who doesn’t know English from the ethnic groups, from the non-native speakers who live there?
Steven Fisher: We don’t have ethnic groups that don’t speak our language, but obviously we have a lot of citizens who arrive in the country without knowing English.
Voice of Bessarabia: But I say from the people of your country that they don’t know English.
Steven Fisher: No, I think we don’t have this phenomenon, in general, everyone knows English.
Voice of Bessarabia: I was saying you came in Republic of Moldova of the year 2019, what do you like more and what do you like more in Republic of Moldova?
Steven Fisher: There are two questions, but I have only one answer: what I like more and what I like less people. And I explain: I like it the most when I meet those who work for the country, who sincerely work for the people create the country’s situation, and I like it the least when I see the opposite cases, that is, people who undermine the country’s development opportunities. And luckily, I’ve seen more of the former than the latter.
I tried to show respect for the state language, the Romanian language, and I wish you all a positive and peaceful year.
Voice of Bessarabia: Nice answer and diplomatic. What message you have for those who watched this show at The voice of Bessarabia?
Steven Fisher: First of all, I’m sorry that I made a lot of linguistic mistakes, but I tried to show respect for the state language, the Romanian language, and I wish you all a positive and rhythmic year.
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