European MP says starting of negotiations on accession to EU most important decision for Moldova since getting Independence

Chisinau, 14 December /MOLDPRES/ - The starting of the negotiations on accession to the European Union is the most important decision for Moldova since the getting of Independence. The co-head of the Moldova-EU Parliamentary Association Committee, European MP Siegfried Muresan has conveyed a message to this effect.   

The official stressed that the today’s decision represented the confirmation of the fact that Moldova would go through a comprehensive process of modernization and reformations in the next years. ‘’This process will be made with the support of the European Union and all member countries. The Moldovan authorities will benefit from increased financial and technical assistance on behalf of the European Union, in order to prepare the country for accession, so that Moldova’s citizens will feel the benefits of the European integration much before the accession itself,’’ Siegfried Muresan said.    

The European lawmaker noted that the starting of the negotiations on accession was a symbolical decision, which shows that Moldova had got rid of Russia’s sphere of influence and that, as soon as the negotiations end, a place will be given to the country at the table of the European Union, with the same rights as all other member states.    

„The principal merit for this fact belongs to President Maia Sandu, the Moldovan pro-European leadership and Moldova’s citizens, who put the country on a clear way of reforms and the European integration, despite all pressures on behalf of Russia. The European Union and Moldova today start the process of accession, which will be a comprehensive, complex, lasting one. Namely therefore, we do not have reasons for losing time, but we must switch to the next stage as soon as possible. Thus, I expect the European Commission and the Council of the European Union to adopt, without delay, the framework of negotiation, so that the first inter-governmental conference on negotiation EU-Moldova takes place in the first half of the 2024 year. Next year, we will have Euro-parliamentary elections, and so it is important that we make as much progress as possible in the process of accession in the first part of the year, given that, in the second part, the European Union will deal with the institutional resetting following the elections,’’ Siegfried Muresan said.       

The official also said that the European integration of Moldova and Ukraine was in the fundamental interest of the citizens of Moldova and Ukraine, as well as of the citizens from all European Union member states.

„The EU’s safety depends on how safe and stable the countries from our neighbourhood are. The more stable and more reformed Moldova and Ukraine are, the safer are also we inside EU. And the process of accession to the European Union is the best instrument through which a state from EU’s neighbourhood can be reformed and modernized. Besides, the European Union’s extension brings also concrete economic benefits to the member countries and all European citizens. This fact was confirmed by the previous waves of enlargement, which contributed to the economic development of the European Union, strengthened the Union’s domestic market and consolidated the EU’s position globally,’’ Siegfried Muresan said.       

The European Council today voted for the starting of the negotiations on the accession of Moldova and Ukraine to the European Union.