On Europe Day, President reaffirmed Moldova’s commitment to EU accession

President of the Republic of Moldova Maia Sandu reaffirmed the country’s firm commitment to European integration at a reception organized on the occasion of Europe Day. In her address to the participants, the head of state emphasized that the Republic of Moldova has been following a clearly assumed European path for four years and this course is essential for the country’s future.

The President noted in her speech that our country has already managed to take important steps in the EU accession process, thanks to an unprecedented mobilization.

“For four years now, the Republic of Moldova has been steadily following the European path. A path chosen because, for us, it represents an existential guarantee of peace, freedom and democracy. We have managed to take important steps thanks to an unprecedented mobilization. Civil servants, members of civil society organizations, journalists, entrepreneurs, people who work every day to turn the objective of joining the European Union into reality,” the head of state said.

The President drew attention to the fact that the accession process should not be perceived exclusively through the lens of technical reforms and negotiations.

“Of course, in our country as well, discussions about the European agenda are often dominated by technical aspects: conditionalities, reforms, standards, negotiations, legislation. We often say that we are diligently doing our homework. And we really are. But the truth is that we cannot build enthusiasm solely around the idea of homework,” Maia Sandu said.

In her speech, the President insisted on the fundamental values on which the European project is based.

“The European Union was not born as a bureaucratic exercise and was not built around directives or regulations. The European project was born out of a painful historical lesson and out of the conviction that peace on the continent cannot be maintained without reconciliation between countries and peoples, without solidarity, without trust and without bonds strong enough to make war literally impossible,” the head of state declared.

Maia Sandu underlined that, for the Republic of Moldova and other countries in Eastern Europe, European integration also has a profound historical dimension.

“For the states of Eastern Europe, including the Republic of Moldova, the promise of the European project also has a profound dimension of moral and historical redress. After the war, when people from our part of Europe dared to look beyond the iron curtain, their enthusiasm was not fueled by regulations or directives, but by the image of freedom, by the idea of a society in which people could speak freely, could travel freely, could create and hope without fear. And I believe that this remains, to this day, the real power of attraction of the European project. Because we live in a world in which global competition is not only economic or technological, but also a competition between models of society. Authoritarianism comes with rules and the prospect of stability. But only democracy offers something essential: the individual’s freedom to live their life according to their own aspirations, in a society that respects their dignity. It is a promise that continues to inspire. And we have the duty to restore, through the way we speak about Europe and the way we continue to build it, the brilliance and strength it deserves,” the President said.

In conclusion, the head of state called for strengthening European values in society and maintaining the pace of reforms.

“We have all understood that we cannot afford to slow down the pace – a pace whose main challenge remains the fact that we are running a marathon, but we have to move as if it were a sprint,” concluded the President of the Republic of Moldova.

Europe Day is celebrated annually on May 9, a date that marks the anniversary of the Schuman Declaration, presented on May 9, 1950, by French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman. The declaration is considered the founding act of the modern European project and laid the foundations of the current European Union.

In the Republic of Moldova, the main events dedicated to this year’s Europe Day took place in Chișinău on May 9, 2026, as part of the traditional European Village organized in the Great National Assembly Square. On May 13, also in Chișinău, a reception was held to mark Europe Day, during which President Maia Sandu delivered a speech on the European path of the Republic of Moldova and the significance of the European project for the country.

At the same time, the celebration continues in Soroca, where Europe Day will be marked on May 16, 2026. According to the organizers, the European Village will be opened in the city center starting at 2:00 p.m. and will include cultural, educational and interactive activities, as well as a concert with artists from the Republic of Moldova.