Sandu signs order to start talks on Moldovan accession to EU

CHISINAU. June 21 (Interfax) - Moldovan President Maia Sandu said on Friday she had signed an order to begin negotiations on Moldova's accession to the European Union.

"Moldova has met every recommendation of the European Commission. Thus, two years after receiving the candidate status, the first Moldova-EU intergovernmental conference will take place on June 25 to launch the EU accession negotiations. Thousands of people in government institutions are behind the national modernization efforts, and the work of every one of them is crucial for achieving the national goal of Moldova's preparation for EU membership by 2030," Sandu said on a social network after a meeting of the National Commission for European Integration.

The meeting approved the negotiating position to be endorsed by the government, Sandu said. Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Cristina Gherasimov was appointed Moldova's chief negotiator.

Integration with the European Union is "the only development path [for Moldova], which will provide peace, wellbeing and a better life for all citizens," she said.

"The people of the Republic of Moldova will decide at the referendum in fall whether this is the national development vector and legacy we will pass on to next generations," Sandu said.

The European Commission recommended in early June that negotiations on the admission of Moldova and Ukraine to the European Union begin. A group of 11 out of 27 member states asked the Belgian presidency of the Council of the European Union on June 5 to approve the framework of negotiations on the admission of Moldova and Ukraine to the EU this month, so that intergovernmental conferences with both countries could be held at the end of June.

The European Council decided in December 2023 to begin negotiations on Moldova's admission to the EU. The European Commission submitted the Moldova negotiating framework for the European Council's consideration on March 13.