CHISINAU, May 13. /TASS/. Moldova will not be ready for joining the European Union in the next 30 to 50 years, the country’s former president, Vladimir Voronin, said on Friday.

"Even if I want to be an optimist, I still understand that at least in the next 30, maximum 50 years, we will not be ready to knock on the European door. Much will change during this time span," he said in an interview with the First in Moldova television channel.

According to Voronin, when speaking about Moldova’s accession to the European Union in the near future, the authorities "are seeking to distract attention from other problems requiring solution." "But due to the lack of experience, the authorities do not even know how to approach these problems," he stressed.

Moldova’s Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita on Thursday handed over to European Union’s Ambassador to Chisinau Janis Mazeiks the second part of the country’s application for the beginning of talks on its EU membership. The EU ambassador noted that Moldova is not yet ready for joining the European Union, in particular, due to corruption-related problems. He warned that European integration is a long process with a lot of inquiries and applications and there would be no justification to non-observance of any of the requirements.

Moldova applied for EU membership this March, along with Georgia and Ukraine.