The European Commission recommended that the EU Council begin negotiations on Moldova's accession to the European Union.
This was stated by the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday, November 8. She noted that Moldova has made important progress towards reform, despite ongoing efforts to destabilize its democracy. Ursula von der Leyen said that Moldova is not currently facing a conventional war, but is subject to constant destabilizing pressure. At the same time, Moldova is also suffering from the consequences of the war in Ukraine, hosting a large number of Ukrainian refugees, facing the problem of power outages, and is being blackmailed from an energy point of view. The President of the European Commission noted that at the same time, Moldova has made significant efforts in the direction of reforms, highlighting justice reform, anti-corruption investigations and the fight against organized crime. Many changes have been made at the legislative level. “Thus, the European Commission recommends that the European Council begin negotiations on Moldova’s accession to the EU. There are certain key measures that need to be completed, and in this sense the EU Council could approve the framework for negotiations in March 2024, after the European Commission prepares a report on the progress made by Moldova. The European Commission is ready to report to the EU Council by March 2024 on the progress of implementation of these measures,” said Ursula von der Leyen. Answering the question what are the chances that Moldova will join the EU by 2030, the President of the European Commission said that she is absolutely confident that Moldova will move forward, because its results are absolutely impressive. “Under extremely difficult circumstances, you manage to consolidate and reform your country. It is a merit-based process. The merits of Moldova are undeniable. We have to admit it, that's the whole point. So I don't think we need to set a specific date. Depending on progress, Moldova may join sooner or later. Therefore, I do not consider it correct to set a specific date,” stressed Ursula von der Leyen. The EC also recommended that the EU Council begin EU accession negotiations with Ukraine and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and that Georgia be granted EU candidate status on the understanding that the government would take a number of further important reform steps to reflect the genuine aspirations of the majority of citizens to join EU. // 08.11.2023 — InfoMarket
