Moldova hopes that the first bilateral bilateral summit with the European Union on Friday in Kišinov will use it to fix its trip to the block, even if the growing dispute over Ukraine membership is in danger of slowing down its progress. TASR reports this based on the reports of Politico and Euronews.
President Maia Sandu at 17.00 HV of the capital will officially welcome the head of the European Commission Ursulu von Der Leyen and President of the European Council Antónia Costa. The summit is to be a clear signal of support for Moldova and its European ambitions with the main topics of the country’s economic growth and security.
Concomitant entry is complicated
The Moldova access process takes place in parallel with the request of Ukraine, which complicates the procedure. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán refuses to enter Ukraine into the Union and repeatedly announced that he would block it. It also refers to the results of a recent vote in Hungary, in which most participants expressed disagreement with the extension of the EU to Ukraine. Opposition voices and observers claim that participation was historically low and the vote was prone to manipulation, says Politico.
Cristina Gherasim’s Moldovan Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration warns that “the delay of this process will cost the EU credibility in countries that share the same values and strive to strengthen democracy”.
Strong support for the Moldovan candidacy is expressed by the Romanian MEP and the head of the European Parliament’s delegation for the EU-Moldovan Siegfried Murešan. It points out that the country is making rapid progress and its integration would require lower costs than in the case of “larger” Ukraine.
The processes do not want to separate
Politico and Euronews say that Brussels has so far refused to separate Moldova and Ukraine access processes. However, if Kisin continues to reform and political stability, his arguments for independent and faster EU accession will be stronger, Euronews noted.
Moldova and Ukraine filed a request for membership in the European Union in March 2022 and in June they were granted the status of a candidate country. Formal access negotiations began in June 2024, but the pace and the way in which individual countries progress in the process remain a politically sensitive question.
