European support for the Republic of Moldova
The European Integration Forum was held in Chisinau.
Leyla Cheamil, 27.11.2024, 13:50
The European Integration Forum was held in Chisinau.
“Let’s work together, with trust and patriotism, to turn the Republic of Moldova into a European, prosperous and secure state”. This is the statement made by Maia Sandu, the head of the ex-Soviet, predominantly Romanian-speaking Republic of Moldova, during the 10th edition of the European Integration Forum held in Chisinau. She emphasized that her country marks a new chapter in history – the recording, in the Constitution, of the objective of EU accession. Let us recall that, in March 2022, the Republic of Moldova submitted its application to be accepted into the European Union, just a few days after the Russian invasion of the neighboring Ukraine had began. In record time, in June 2022, the European Council recognized the European perspective and decided to grant the Republic of Moldova the status of candidate country. Following the progress made by this state, EU leaders decided to open accession negotiations and invited the Council to quickly adopt the draft negotiating framework. “In spite of the anti-European Union propaganda and the Kremlin’s attempts to turn us away, Moldovan citizens have shown that European values are their values too”, said Maia Sandu. She referred to the constitutional referendum in October, following which the Constitution was amended to include the country’s European path as a strategic objective.
Maia Sandu: “We are in a race against time. The window of opportunity may close at any moment. The Kremlin’s desire to transform Moldova into a gray area or a province is strong. If we do not act now, in 10 years we will still find ourselves here, discussing European integration”.
Maia Sandu also said that justice reform, economic development and security are the main national priorities to prepare the state for European integration by 2030. Last week, the United Kingdom and Romania offered their support for the Republic of Moldova in combating the effects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine that began over 1,000 days ago, and London signed a new security and defense partnership agreement with Chisinau. According to a statement from the Foreign Office in London, the security partnership with Chisinau aims to “build on the extensive cooperation between the two countries and strengthen Moldova’s resilience against external threats.” The British and Romanian Foreign Ministers, David Lammy and Luminița Odobescu, respectively, visited the Republic of Moldova just two weeks after pro-European Maia Sandu was re-elected president. Odobescu, welcomed the result of the presidential elections in the Republic of Moldova and said that the trilateral meeting highlighted “the determination of Romania and the United Kingdom to work together to firmly support the Republic of Moldova.”
