The Republic of Moldova’s goal is to become a member state of the European Union by the end of this decade. The optimistic term was announced by Deputy Prime Minister Nicu Popescu, according to whom the country should be fully ready for accession by 2030, even if there are bureaucratic procedures typical for each EU member state, which should be covered since the signing of the Accession Treaty until the accession itself. The official said there are chances for the Republic of Moldova to open the accession negotiations with the EU by the end of this year, IPN reports.

The minister of foreign affairs and European integration noted that the European integration is the government’s priority for the next seven years. It is extremely important for all the internal processes that are dispensable to the accession to the EU to be completed by 2030.

“Our objective is to bring the country into the European Union or on the threshold of the European Union by the end of this decade.  Why do I say on the threshold? Because there is a timeframe since the signing of the Accession Treaty until the accession itself, the ratification by the Parliaments of the EU states. It goes to bureaucracy and policies as the ratification of the accession of a new country in the member states lasts and a referendum is necessary in some of the states. There are processes over which the Republic of Moldova does not have much control. Our objective is to be ready for accession towards the end of this decade. If one country or another is one month or three months late, this will not be because of us,” Nicu Popescu stated in the program “Black Box” on TV8 channel.

The official expressed his optimism that the accession negotiations with the EU will be launched towards the end of this year as there is considerable progress in implementing the nine recommendations transmitted by the European Commission to the Moldovan authorities when the EU candidate status was granted.

“The government team properly fulfills the nine recommendations put forward by the European Commission, which must be implemented for the accession negotiations to be opened. The decision making program in the EU is as follows: in July we will send an update of our report and will explain what we did. In October, the European Commission will publish a report based on which it will decide whether to recommend launching the accession negations or not. In December, the European Council will decide if the accession negotiations will be opened or not,” stated Nicu Popescu.

On June 1, the Republic of Moldova hosts the second European Political Community Summit that will bring together 50 heads of state and government and high-ranking European officials. According to Deputy Premier Nicu Popescu, the meeting represents important diplomatic support for the Republic of Moldova and reaffirms the support for the accession to the EU.