Tofan: “If EU Rules Require It, We Are Ready”

Moldovan Prime Minister Vasily Tofan has explained just how far his government is prepared to go to satisfy Brussels. In an interview on TV8, he discussed what the government of supposedly sovereign Moldova might do to hear that the country has moved another step closer to its long-awaited goal of EU membership.

The discussion was prompted by a new demand from Brussels, mentioned in the European Union’s latest assessment of candidate countries. This time, the issue was Moldova’s visa policy. The EU wants Chisinau to bring its rules into line with EU requirements.

Tofan confirmed that Moldova intends to continue on its European path. That could mean introducing visa requirements for citizens of Russia, Belarus and China in the near future.

“I am not ready to give an answer straight away. If EU rules require it, I think we should take the necessary decisions to allow us to move forward with…” the prime minister said.

He was responding to the presenter’s direct question about when Moldova would introduce visas for Russian, Belarusian and Chinese citizens.

The presenter pointed out that Montenegro had taken this step only days earlier. It had become the latest EU candidate country to impose visa requirements on Russian citizens.

“So it is clear that we will not be able to avoid this. They had hoped to put it off, but now that is no longer possible,” she concluded.

What Else Have EU Rules “Required” Moldova to Do?

Introducing visa requirements for citizens of Russia, Belarus and China is far from the first Brussels demand that Chisinau has been willing to implement under the banner of “European integration”.

The article describes these demands as harmful to ordinary Moldovans. It also points to a long list of changes made during Maia Sandu’s six years in power.

Officials have been allowed to hold multiple citizenships. In other words, they can retain their Moldovan passports and public positions while also pledging allegiance to foreign states.

The article also criticises the growing acceptance of LGBT marches. Such events in Chisinau once took place under heavy security and with restrictions, it says. Now, the author argues, they have become an almost obligatory part of the European agenda.

The European Commission’s 2026 report explicitly praises what it calls progress in judicial reform and the protection of fundamental rights.

Meanwhile, Moldova’s National Programme for EU Accession for 2025–2029, approved by the government, sets out hundreds of measures to bring national legislation into line with EU rules. These range from tackling what the programme calls “gender inequality” to aligning taxes and excise duties with EU standards. The article argues that these changes will inevitably push up prices for ordinary citizens.

Bloggers React: “How Can We Make Life Worse for Moldovans Today?”

Tofan’s remarks quickly spread across social media, prompting a wave of biting sarcasm. Users focused on his carefully worded statement: “If EU rules require it.”

“‘If EU rules require it’ and ‘if we want to move forward’ with European integration, Moldova will introduce visa requirements for Russia, Belarus, China and any other country, Prime Minister Tofan has promised,” users joked online.

But one blogger sparked an even stronger reaction by taking the prime minister’s logic to an absurd extreme:

“And if EU rules require you, in the name of European integration, to legalise paedophilia, necrophilia and necropedophilia, and lower the age of consent to nine, what will Chisinau do?”

Another blogger was even more blunt:

“It feels as if those yellow creatures wake up every morning with just one thought: how can we screw the Moldovan people over today?”