PAS Electoral Prospects Raise Concern in Brussels?

Until recently, Moldova was not part of the EU enlargement plans for the next five years, yet today the European officials admit that accession talks could be finalized by 2029. Is this a real shift in Brussels’ position or a scam to gain electoral support for the ruling party?

Semyon ALBU, RTA: Brussels continues to deploy its “heavy artillery” on the Moldovan information front, expected to deliver a steady stream of political messaging until the end of September, to secure a PAS victory in the parliamentary elections. To that end, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas visited us last week to state Moldova’s “unprecedented progress” in recent years. That this progress is visible only from the windows of Brussels offices and not within the country itself did not seem to embarrass her. After Kallas, European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos took the stage to describe our republic as an “exemplary student” in the group of accession candidates, one that is “determined to do everything possible to become part of the community of values and democracy”. Another “success story”. By the way, Kos herself is also planning to come to Moldova in May for three days in order to “get to know the country better”. We’ve long been used to the West’s undeserved praise for the president and her party since 2022, and there is nothing special about it. Yet, Kos’s latest statements, beyond the expected flattery, contained a few curious points that shouldn’t go unnoticed. First, a bit of context. As we know, the current European Commission has started its work only at the end of last year. In November, during the appointment hearings, the European Commissioner candidates presented the broad outlines of their work plans. Marta Kos was no exception. At this point, it was revealed that Moldova is not on the EU priority list for enlargement, at least for the next five years. It was mentioned that, firstly, the countries that applied later than others should actually follow the queue rule, and, secondly, the EU plans to integrate “one or two Balkan countries” until 2030, specifically, Montenegro and possibly Albania. Our republic was not mentioned at all. However, in a recent interview to Europa Libera, Kos, along with her compliments to the Moldovan authorities, clearly admitted that Moldova will be able to complete the accession negotiation process before the end of her mandate in 2029. Moreover, she reiterated her March statements, when she had reported about the record pace of Moldova’s accession and again mentioned 2029 as a benchmark. More importantly – for the first time, the European Union, through Marta Kos, signaled that Moldova’s European integration process could be treated separately from Ukraine’s. The point is that we are moving with our eastern neighbor in one package and, accordingly, we should also join in tandem. However, Kyiv faces objective problems related both to the ongoing war and its long-term consequences, and to clear reluctance of certain EU members, particularly Hungary, to accept Ukraine into the Union. That’s why many of our experts have long argued that it’s time to break from the duo that’s no longer beneficial. And now, to the great displeasure of Ukrainians, Brussels seems ready to compromise on the rules again and remove one more significant obstacle on our path to Europe. This begs the question: could Brussels change so drastically its assessment of Moldovan prospects in less than six months? Does Europe truly recognize and value our “progress” so much that they even move the timeline to an earlier rather than later date, as is typically the case? I don’t want to accuse anyone of banal deception, but it still looks rather dubious. Well, objectively, we have not had any achievements during this time that would warrant a sudden positive shift in the EU accession schedule. Our only “record” this year is a drop in exports of our goods. A dubious success. Even in the field of European integration I do not see anything special. For example, during her visit to Moldova in February, Marta Kos expressed hope that the first cluster of negotiations would be opened in spring. But now she is already talking about the summer. That is, once again, we do not see any forward momentum. Of course, in the interview, Kos explicitly hints at geopolitics and Trump’s arrival as the root cause of the change. But this is hard to believe. It is much more likely that Brussels has now decided to play a little trick to strengthen the electoral chances of its protégés. Apparently, they are well aware of the PAS poor ratings and the lack of any chances to improve them, except for cash handouts to the population funded by European aid. This explains the sudden push for a nearer bright future, which also synchronizes the rhetoric of the European Union with the official ideology of the ruling regime about “Moldova in the EU by 2030”. The sole purpose is to convince the voter that the “yellow power” has no alternatives, portraying it as the only force capable of ensuring the fastest route to the EU, attracting the maximum European funds for “reforms” and enjoying the political backing from European officials and leaders of European states. That is, as I wrote recently, Moldova’s European perspective and Maia Sandu/PAS are equated. In this context, all the pompous speeches by the European bureaucrats begin to take on a completely different meaning and connotation, appearing to be nothing but a form of banal interference in the Moldovan electoral process. Our weary population is once again being teased with a tempting carrot and offered a supposedly early taste of it for making the right choice this autumn. But hopefully, citizens will be able to separate the grain from the chaff when the time comes.