Opening Moldova’s EU accession talks by late June remains “possible, but not likely”, Ștefănuță
Opening the first cluster of accession talks with the Republic of Moldova before the end of the Cypriot presidency of the Council of the EU in late June remains possible, but the chances appear slim at this stage, says European Parliament Vice President and MEP Nicolae Ștefănuță.
“Opening the negotiations is possible, but not likely. Why? Because it depends on the Hungarian government, which has just appointed its ministers, who have only recently settled into offices filled with Fidesz officials. I know that Anita Orban, Hungary’s new foreign minister, has already discussed minority rights with the Ukrainian side, a highly sensitive issue for Romania and for Romanians there. So, if they reach a solution, it could also benefit us, Romania, because it would apply to all minorities in Ukraine,” the Romanian MEP told Agerpres on May 20.
In his view, separating Moldova’s and Ukraine’s EU candidacies would not serve Moldova’s interests, especially since President Maia Sandu’s term will end in 2028 and she cannot seek another mandate.
“Time is short. People gave a pro European mandate. If the European side fails to deliver, that mandate weakens, people lose trust, and investments do not arrive. Maia Sandu said that the crisis in Hormuz and the war in Ukraine make it very difficult to attract investors, so people still do not feel the benefits of European integration. We need to open negotiation chapters because that will reassure investors,” explained Ștefănuță, a member of the Greens group in the European Parliament.
On May 19 in Strasbourg, Maia Sandu said that the Republic of Moldova stands ready to open all negotiations with the EU and expressed confidence that member states would find a solution to launch formal talks by the end of June, when the current Cypriot presidency of the Council of the EU ends.
The Republic of Moldova submitted its EU membership application on March 3, 2022. On June 17 that year, the European Commission issued its opinion on the application.
On June 23, 2022, the European Council granted Moldova candidate status and invited the European Commission to report on the country’s progress in meeting the conditions outlined in the bloc’s opinion on the accession request.
Under the revised enlargement methodology, the Council approved the negotiation framework on June 21, 2024. Four days later, the EU held its first intergovernmental conference with the Republic of Moldova, officially launching accession talks.
On March 17, Moldova and the EU opened technical negotiations on the final three clusters of accession chapters: Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth, Green Agenda and Connectivity, and Resources, Agriculture and Cohesion.
Technical negotiations now cover all six clusters and all 33 chapters of the EU acquis.
