Russia: Granting Moldova, Ukraine EU candidate status seems fraudulent

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mariya Zakharova has said that the process of granting Moldova and Ukraine candidate status for EU membership appears to be fraudulent.

She made the remarks on Russia's Sputnik radio.

"There is such a beautiful word as fraud. When many of the decisions that are being taken by the Western community, they are more like not well-thought-out steps, but a combination of destructive and provocative nature," she said.

Zakharova believes these decisions show that economic mechanisms in the EU are now "formed solely for political reasons." This speaks of a "crisis of neoliberalism" and contradicts the principles proclaimed by the EU itself.

In her opinion, in this way, the EU demonstrates a departure from the principles of neoliberalism based on "free trade, without politics".