Anthem of European Union, Moldova echoed in parliament

Chisinau, Dec. 15 /MOLDPRES/- Anthem of the European Union and the Republic of Moldova sounded today at the beginning of the plenary session of the Parliament. At the same time, the flag of the Republic of Moldova and that of the EU were honored.

Speaker Igor Grosu congratulated the representatives on the start of the EU accession negotiations.

"Yesterday we experienced a very important event, a historic decision that we have been waiting for for many years. The European Council adopted the decision. I thank you for the efforts made, for those laws that we adopted, for the endless discussions arguing how important it is to open the accession process as a step in the full integration. I thank the officials from the Parliament and the Presidency, who did an enormous thing," said Grosu.

Yesterday, the European Council voted to start the accession negotiations of the Republic of Moldova to the European Union. The decision comes after, on November 8, the European Commission recommended the member countries of the European Union to initiate negotiations for Moldova's accession to the EU.

Last June Moldova received the status of a candidate country for joining the European Union. Chisinau authorities were presented with nine conditions in order to move to the next stage of accession - that of negotiations. This autumn the level of implementation of the European Commission's recommendations was evaluated, followed by the decision to start negotiations for EU accession.