The Standing Bureau of the Moldovan Parliament approved a joint statement of the Republic of Moldova, Georgia and the Supreme Rada of Ukraine whereby these call on the European Parliament to adopt a resolution before the Eastern Partnership Summit to express political support for opening the membership perspective of the three associate states, Speaker Andrian Candu announced after the Bureau’s meeting, IPN reports.

Andrian Candu said the joint statement was signed by him, by his Georgian counterpart Irakli Kobakhidze and by the Supreme Rada Chairman Andriy Parubiy. “Given this ambitious message that looks into the future, the Statement of the Eastern Partnership Summit will launch a powerful signal in the current tense geopolitical situation and will become an instrument of inspiration for accelerating further progress and democratic transformations in the three partner states that are associates of the EU,” reads the statement.

“The three states – Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine – are associates of the European Union. They signed association agreements and free trade agreements with the EU without yet discussing in detail the European perspective and when this European perspective will be offered. You can look at this statement as at an application for membership, from political viewpoint. This is our request to the European Parliament, which is a European political body, to examine and to adopt a resolution for the Eastern Partnership so that the three states are offered European integration perspectives,” stated the Speaker, noting that the three states intend to accelerate the European integration process.

Speaking about a possible application for EU membership by Moldova, Andrian Candu said this could be submitted in 2018. To file such an application, the Republic of Moldova should be prepared and eligible to launch the pre-accession procedure. “One thing is to submit the application and to have this rejected and another thing is to submit it and to have this examined and accepted. That’s why I think that at the pace we started in 2016 and continue in 2017, and if we achieve results in doing reforms, in a year we could reach a level that would enable us to be ready to file an application for membership, in 2018,” he stated.

According to the Speaker, a lot of work is yet to be done to ensure the independence of institutions, improve the professional capacities, etc. Many reforms are underway, while others are yet to be launched.