Chisinau outpaces other candidate states in EU bid, Cristina Gherasimov
The Republic of Moldova is prepared to advance to the next stage in its European Union accession process by opening negotiations on the first cluster. This announcement was made by Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Cristina Gherasimov during the "We and Europe" program on Radio Moldova. She highlighted that Moldova completed the bilateral screening process in record time, faster than many other candidate countries, demonstrating the level of preparedness and political will present in both Chișinău and Brussels. Gherasimov added that over a thousand experts from the European Commission are currently working on Moldova’s application, which reflects the strong support from European institutions.
"So it's about mobilization and on their part to help us move faster. Why? Because the European Commission realizes that we are living in a historic moment, an opportunity that must be exploited to the fullest. We share the same political will in both Chisinau and Brussels to accelerate. Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos has once again given a very clear message that the Commission will do everything possible for us to succeed in opening all groups of chapters for negotiations by the end of this year," said Cristina Gherasimov.
The Deputy Prime Minister stated that the responsibility for the next step lies with the member states, which must decide on the official opening of the first group of chapters. Once the first chapters are opened, the others can be negotiated quickly, because the Republic of Moldova has done its homework in advance. This spring, Chisinau developed the National Accession Program, with over 3,000 measures, some anticipated compared to the official calendar, Cristina Gherasimov said.
"We went even ahead of schedule, we did our homework two steps ahead. Many candidate states initiated this process only after completing the screening exercise. For us, it's just about updating the national program, because in June-September we already knew approximately what the commitments we would make would be. Still, with the reactions and feedback we received from the Commission's experts, we are going to adjust this roadmap a little, the so-called national accession program," explained the Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration.
The official emphasized that, unlike Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova benefits from the full support of the 27 member states. However, the process of opening negotiations depends on the consensus within the European Council, where some blockages persist in the case of Ukraine.
Asked about Brussels' expectations from the new Legislative, Cristina Gherasimov stated that European institutions want continuity in reforms, especially in justice field.
