The Moldovan Prime Minister, Natalia Gavrilita, said on Monday that the country expects to open accession negotiations to join the European Union as early as 2023, while acknowledging that she does not expect «shortcuts» in the European accession process.
«We hope that negotiations can be opened as soon as possible, by the end of this year, but we make it clear that we are not looking for shortcuts and that the accession conditions represent important reforms for the benefit of citizens,» he said at a press conference with the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, ahead of the summit with the EU on Tuesday that will review progress in its European integration.
In this sense, Gavrilita has joined Ukraine’s insistence that the EU should open talks this year to discuss its entry into the bloc, which Kiev hopes to achieve in two years. Moldova received together with Ukraine in June the status of candidate country for accession, in a decision in record time after applying for membership days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In any case, the Moldovan leader emphasized that the reforms are not «to comply with the dossier» but will bring «visible transformations» for the citizens of the country in Eastern Europe.
For her part, Metsola praised the pace of Moldova’s reforms and the ambition of the national authorities to move forward on the EU path. «The accession process requires steps to be taken and we will be at every step of the way,» he pointed out.
On the option of opening accession negotiations already this year, the Maltese ‘popular’ has expressed herself in favor, insisting that steps can be taken «as soon as possible» to «fulfill the ambition» of Chisinau’s accession to the community club. However, she also underlined that deepening the integration of Moldova into the single market is the «best and fastest way» to get closer to the EU.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
