Political commentator Victor Nichituș argued that “it is sad that after six years of absolute power, the village where the Moldovan head of state was born still has no running water or sewage system. And it is not the only one. President Sandu knows the Copenhagen criteria, which is why she is making efforts abroad to persuade EU member states to overlook Moldova’s failure to meet these criteria. Among the many requirements is access to water and sanitation for localities between the Prut and the Dniester,” TRIBUNA reports.

According to Nichituș, EU member states might have been willing to overlook Moldova’s shortcomings if the country’s EU integration path had not been tied to that of Ukraine.

“It is sad that the fate of the Moldovan state — which should have been aligned with Romania — is now linked to Ukraine. And it is even sadder that while Brussels discusses the success of Moldovan reforms, villagers still carry water in buckets and relieve themselves in outdoor toilets. For me, European integration is measured in taps with running water and sewage systems in rural Moldova, not in festive speeches or promises unbacked by action.

Promises do not replace infrastructure, and propaganda — even European — does not wash away the shame of a student falling into a school outhouse or the dirty hands of children studying in a rural school with an outdoor toilet lacking even the most basic conditions,” he said.

Nichituș added that “true integration does not happen when we sign treaties, but when politicians stop lying to us.”

He argued that the best message the Moldovan Government could send to children would be an announcement that European funds have been secured to launch a program expanding access to sewage systems in rural areas. “The number of infectious diseases would decrease, and Moldovan children would be much healthier,” the journalist noted.

He also pointed out that, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the territory between the Prut and the Dniester remains fragmented in terms of public utilities: while water networks cover almost 70% of localities, only slightly more than 10% have access to sewage systems.