A sense of urgency in the light of concern. Moldova wants to enter the European Union “as soon as possible” to protect itself from the Russian threat and hopes for a decision “in the coming months” on the opening of discussions, said its president in an interview with AFP. “We believe that we can only save our democracy by being part of the EU,” declared Maia Sandu, a few days before a pro-European demonstration and then an unprecedented European summit in Chisinau.
“Russia will continue to be a great source of instability in the years to come and we must protect ourselves,” added the 50-year-old Moldovan leader on the sidelines of a Council of Europe summit which ended Tuesday in Iceland. The former Soviet republic of 2.6 million inhabitants is organizing its first major summit on June 1, bringing together the enlarged Europe, with the countries of the European Political Community (EPC) and the main heavyweights of the continent.
It is the poorest country in Europe
In February, Maia Sandu accused Russia of fomenting a coup to overthrow the power in place in Chisinau. In power since 2020, the leader of Europe’s poorest country called for a large pro-EU rally on Sunday intended to show Moldovan support for membership.
“The war in Ukraine has put things in black and white: we see very clearly now what the free world means and what the authoritarian world means for all of us,” said the first woman to lead the small country, whose an entire region, Transdniestria, is de facto under Russian control.
A process that could last until the 2030s
The invasion of Ukraine reawakened the hitherto highly improbable hypothesis of Kyiv and Chisinau joining in the medium term. “We believe that (membership) is a realistic project and we want it to happen as soon as possible,” the Moldovan president told an AFP team in Reykjavik, hoping “to have a decision on the opening of negotiations in the coming months “.
The EU granted Ukraine official candidate status in June 2022 but is calling for further reforms, including anti-corruption. If the small Moldova, border of Romania member of the EU, would undoubtedly be easier to integrate because of its size, many obstacles remain to its entry into the Union, promising a process which would last at least until the 2030s. In addition to its economic fragility and its nagging problems of corruption, Moldova must also find a solution to the secessionist Transdniestria, a pro-Russian region of 300,000 inhabitants in the east of the country.
“We still have things to do, but we are working very hard and that is our main objective now,” insisted Ms. Sandu, whose country began its withdrawal from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) led by Russia since the fall of the USSR.