Meeting of Moldova - European Union Association Council held in Brussels

Chisinau, 7 February /MOLDPRES/ - The seventh meeting of the Moldova – European Union Association Council and the first one following the giving of the status of country candidate for accession to EU was held in Brussels today, the government’s communication and protocol department has reported.   

Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita, who led the Moldovan delegation, stressed the irreversible commitment of Moldova for the European integration and set forth the reforms undertaken to fulfill the European Commission’s recommendations, in order to switch to the next stage – the starting of the negotiations on accession.  

„The reforms regard such sectors as justice, fight against corruption, good governance or good work of the economy. This represents not only conditions for advancement on the European way, but, to the same extent, steps necessary for the state to be able to give Moldovan citizens possibility to lead a decent life in a prosperous and independent country,’’ Natalia Gavrilita said.   

The PM noted that the bilateral dialogue had never been in a better state than now and the extended and diversified cooperation between the European Union and Moldova will contribute to the improvement of the process of accession to EU. ‘’Russia’s war in Ukraine has changed the world and we must be united and in solidarity in the support for Ukraine which presently fights for the future Europe,’’ Gavrilita also said.   

The European integration represents the guarantee of Moldova’s development and modernization, based on the values shared with the people from the European Union. The prime minister thanked for the constant and solid support, in the context of the war waged by Russia in Ukraine, which hit Moldova, especially in the energy sector. The financial assistance provided by the European Union essentially contributed to the overcoming of the difficult period and Moldova relies on it in continuation. 

At the same time, the participants in the meeting considered the degree of implementation of the Association Agreement and found out a quite good dynamic of the bilateral relations. Thus, the European Union is not only a partner in the process of reforms, but also the principal economic partner. In continuation, Moldova is set to join the Single European Payments Area (SEPA) and the roaming one, as well as several EU’s programmes, such as Customs, Fiscalis, EU4Health and others.    

„Moldova has made progress in terms of science, research, foreign relations and energy. Moldova is now more prepared and more independent as regards energy. We recommend that you continue with the justice reform, anticorruption fight and adopt the electoral legislation in accordance with the international recommendations,’’ European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said.    

The Association Council adopted a joint declaration which regards all cooperation sectors.

Communication and protocol department