The Minister of Foreign Affairs from Chisinau, Nicu Popescu, calls for the urgency of the European procedures that would ensure the financing of the direct interconnection of the electrical networks of Moldova and Romania, stressing that in wartime the same bureaucratic procedures as in peacetime can no longer be applied, since the country had to suffer from the war across the border, Reuters reports.

“We urgently need an electrical interconnection with Romania, so for us it is not the same whether the procedure lasts 1 year or 5 years,” said Nicu Popescu in an interview with Reuters, noting that his country is also waiting for answers regarding the construction of a second interconnection, according to News.ro.

For the stability of the Republic of Moldova, infrastructure projects are vital, such as the electricity interconnector that would connect the country’s electricity grid directly to Romania, bypassing Ukraine, which would diversify sources and, therefore, ensure a more secure energy supply.

Nicu Popescu stated that there is international political and economic support for such projects, but their implementation procedures are too slow. The deadline for finalizing the interconnector with Romania, partially financed with EU funds, is 2026.

“Peacetime procedures must be reassessed, because we do not live in peacetime. Europe is affected by a full-scale war – the biggest since World War II,” he said. “We cannot apply the same speed and the same procedures,” said the head of diplomacy from Chisinau.

Popescu said this was one of the main issues he discussed with German government officials during his visit to Berlin.