Moldovan president says Moldova's accession to EU crucial investment in Europe's common stability, security

Chisinau, 16 May /MOLDPRES/ - Moldova’s accession to the European Union represents a crucial investment in Europe’s common stability and security. President Maia Sandu has made statements to this effect in an editorial published in The Economist publication.   

According to the head of state, the decision to officially ask for accession to EU in March 2022 was a clear-cut choice for us: the call of democracy will triumph over the oppression of the authoritarianism. ‘’Now, we expect the EU member states to open the discussions on accession. We have much to do before joining the Union, but we are resolute.      

We reform the justice system comprehensively, double or efforts, on order to eradicate the corruption and the organized crime and work together to counteract the influence of the oligarchs, who seized our state at one time; the influence of two fled criminals was reduced, after they had been hit by sanctions on behalf of the USA and the United Kingdom. We also consolidate our administrative capacity, so that we are able to implement even deeper reforms in the long run,’’ the Moldovan president said.       

The head of state noted that Moldova’s accession to EU represented a crucial investment in Europe’s common stability and security. ‘’We believe that it is vital for us to consolidate our relation and I urge UE to take a decision this year, in order to launch the discussions on accession in early 2024. This step will give us the impetus we need, in order to maintain the reforms and consolidate Moldova’s position as future member. We should also consolidate the cooperation in the security and defence sector, improve the energy interconnections and speed up the pre-accession support for the development of the infrastructure. The Ukrainian ports, which served as gate of entrance for the Moldovan commerce, remain under the Russian blockade; thus, the prioritization of developing the infrastructure to protect the common social and economic stability becomes imperative,’’ Maia Sandu also said.     

The Moldovan president said that Moldova’s efforts of domestic reform already start to yield fruits. ‘’Starting from 2021, Moldova went up from the 89th position to the 28th one from 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index, published by Reporters without Borders. Last year, we were described as a bright point by the reporter of Global State of Democracy, which is published by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. Besides, we also boosted the efforts to modernize the economy, reducing the bureaucracy for the local and foreign investors. We prove to be a reliable partner for EU and many other countries. We contribute to the security of our common European home, being a strong neighbour for Ukraine, maintaining the peace in the Transnistrian breakaway region and joining the forces with EU, in order to counteract the security challenges triggered by the war from our neighbourhood. This commitment to Europe will be visible in Moldova, when we will host the summit of the European Political Community in June. The peace, security, energy resilience and connectivity will be on the agenda, when I will meet the heads of state and government from Europe and with the EU leaders. This will be an occasion to have an open discussion about the common challenges. Moldova, the future EU member, remains firm, strong and confident,’’ Maia Sandu added.