President welcomed opening of EU accession negotiations on Fundamental Values

President of the Republic of Moldova Maia Sandu welcomed the opening of accession negotiations with the European Union on the chapter group Fundamental Values. In this context, today in Luxembourg an intergovernmental conference was held, bringing together representatives of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the European Commission and the Government of the Republic of Moldova.

“Today the Republic of Moldova has taken another step on its European path: we have opened negotiations on the first group of chapters, Fundamental Values,” said Maia Sandu.

The chapters included in this group cover areas of major importance for citizens, such as the functioning of the justice system, the fight against corruption, respect for fundamental rights and the strengthening of democratic institutions.

“We have reached this point thanks to the work we have done together and the efforts of the people who believe in the European future of the Republic of Moldova. Our country is moving forward, and the remaining path still requires perseverance. But today we have one more reason to be confident: the accession of the Republic of Moldova to the European Union is no longer a distant objective, but a reality that we are already building,” the head of state said.

Accession negotiations are conducted on 33 chapters, grouped into six thematic clusters. The Fundamental Values cluster is the first to be opened and the last to be closed, and is considered the backbone of the entire process. A central role in this cluster is played by Chapters 23 and 24, dedicated to the rule of law – the functioning of the justice system, the fight against corruption, fundamental rights and state security. These are considered the core of the accession negotiations. For these chapters, the European Union sets interim benchmarks, which represent the basic conditions that the Republic of Moldova must fulfil.

The pace of the entire process depends on meeting these benchmarks, since the provisional closure of any chapter cannot take place before these conditions are met. The official opening of negotiations on a chapter group takes place within intergovernmental conferences, such as today’s in Luxembourg, and a chapter is provisionally closed only after the agreed conditions have been fulfilled. All chapters must be closed before the completion of the accession process.