Sandu on the Assessment of Moldova’s European Integration Progress: It Is Positive, but It Is Not the Time to Celebrate

“We will benefit from the advice of the person who led the European integration efforts in Romania. This experience is valuable for us,” Moldovan President Maia Sandu told RFI. Recall that Romania’s former chief negotiator with the EU, Vasile Puskas, will come to Chisinau in September to advise Moldovan officials on the EU accession process. “We have to learn how to adapt our institutions and do things faster and better because we want to be ready for accession by the end of this decade. Romania also helps us to succeed in the transformations needed for Moldova to become a European state. We have Romania’s support in various public institutions. Romania supports us at all stages of European integration, actively advocating for Moldova in Brussels and European capitals,” President Maia Sandu noted. “Of course, we want as soon as possible to get a favorable decision from the European institutions, from the European states regarding the start of EU accession negotiations. I saw the Commission’s preliminary assessment on Moldova’s progress, and this assessment was positive. But we still have a lot of work to do. It is not the time to celebrate. It is too early. We have to continue working on the justice reform, on the struggle against corruption. These are the most difficult spheres to be reformed because of the resistance we face in the system,” added the head of state. According to the president, unfortunately, there are still corrupt prosecutors and judges in the system who are trying to delay the reform, trying to compromise it. “And even if we have the full political will to succeed, we see that everything is happening slower than we would like. In any case, we will insist on cleaning up the system. That’s the first step of this reform. Cleaning means an extraordinary external evaluation of judges and prosecutors on the integrity’s criterion. And those who cannot prove the legal origin of their income will be forced to leave the system,” Sandu said. At the same time, Maia Sandu specifies that the assessment of the European Union was positive, including on justice. “Obviously, we have to be persistent. These are the most difficult areas, if we talk about the 9 conditions put forward by the European Commission,” the head of state said. Maia Sandu added that a decision on the start of negotiations could be taken in December, but the authorities “are not sure what this decision will be”. “We know that we have to work and we will work with full responsibility,” Sandu said.