EU leaders promised that Moldova’s future “is within the European Union” following a summit in Brussels on Monday (22 June) as both sides vowed to accelerate talks on the country joining the bloc.
The EU-Moldova summit amounted to a review Moldova’s progress in reforms on the path to European integration, particularly on the rule of law, fundamental rights, and the fight against organized crime, as well as aligning legislation with the EU acquis.
Chișinău and Kyiv both applied to become candidate countries following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
But last week’s EU leaders’ summit in Brussels gave the formal green light for negotiations to open on the nuts and bolts of aligning Moldova’s legal framework to the EU’s. Talks had previously been blocked by the pro-Moscow Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán until he was ousted from office in a landslide election defeat in April.
“Looking ahead, we agree to continue Moldova’s gradual integration into the EU’s internal market across key sectors and to enable Moldova’s progressive participation in EU policies and programmes already during the accession process,” stated a joint declaration issued after the summit.
