President Sandu is well-regarded in Brussels but her government has been hit by scandal and her Prime Minister resigned on Friday
Moldova began formal membership negotiations with the EU in mid-June, but a growing scandal may prompt sceptical European governments to question the country’s accession process.
Moldova and Ukraine have been ‘coupled’ in EU accession talks. However, Chișinău is also pushing for an accelerated track and has suggested it could join the EU via reunification with Romania to speed up the process.
Maia Sandu, Moldova’s president, is popular and well regarded in Brussels. But she and her pro-European government have recently been under pressure due to problems at a strategic government agency involving her cousin.
According to investigative reporters at the website Rise.MD, Sandu’s cousin, Anastasia Taburceanu, was given a public relations job at the air traffic controller Moldatsa via direct appointment.
