European Commission Recommends Granting Moldova and Ukraine the EU Candidate Status

The European Commission ruled to grant the Republic of Moldova candidate status for EU membership. The recommendation to the governments of the 27 EU member states was approved at a meeting chaired by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Friday, June 17, deschide.md reports. “We recommend to the Council that Moldova should be given the perspective to become a member of the European Union and candidate status on the understanding that the country will undertake a number of important reforms. In the recent past, Moldova has taken a decisive step towards reforms, with clear mandates from its citizens. For the first time since independence, the country is on a pro-reform, anti-corruption European path. Of course, Moldova still has a long way to go, requiring serious economic and public administration development, but if the country’s leadership continues, we believe the country has the potential to rise to the challenge,” von der Leyen said. A positive opinion was also given to Ukraine. As for Georgia, Ursula von der Leyen stated that the country “must unite politically in order to pave a clear path toward structural reforms and EU reforms. “Therefore, we recommend that Georgia should be given a European perspective, but be assessed whether it meets a number of conditions before granting it candidate status,” Ursula von der Leyen said. Point