President Maia Sandu said that this year Moldova will see a turning point and it is important for everyone to be aware of this opportunity. According to her, the autumn referendum on Moldova’s accession to the European Union will define the present and future for the next decades and will enshrine the citizens’ choice in the Constitution, IPN reports.
“This country project – the European integration – is the project that unites our society and is the project that can ensure the peaceful, prosperous and free future that is wanted by all the citizens of the Republic of Moldova,” Maia Sandu told a news conference.
The head of state said that she had a series of discussions with representatives of civil society, academia, political parties, etc. Most often, she was asked why this referendum is proposed now. The idea of Moldova’s accession to the EU was discussed in the late 1990s and then the government of 2005 also talked about the European integration, as did the next governments.
“So, it’s clear that it’s not a new idea. We all want this, we are working on it, but not enough decisive steps have been taken so far. I think that in these 30 years, we have taken a step forward and a half step backward. We can’t hesitate any longer. We don’t want to wait for another 30 years. We want things to improve swiftly. First of all, we want to have the certainty of peace and that’s why we must be determined, must not hesitate and be scared and must realize that this is our chance for development, for peace and go much more determined from now on,” noted the official.
President Sandu pointed out that once the objective of European integration is written in the Constitution, the entire political class of the Republic of Moldova will be obliged to obey the citizens’ decision and there will be consistency in the implementation of this program, this development plan of the country and, respectively, there will be certainty that this objective can be achieved during a relatively short period of time.
Maia Sandu requested Parliament to initiate the process and start activities for organizing the referendum this autumn.
“Peace is guaranteed in the European Union. In all the EU member states, the people enjoy peace. Hence my confidence that the citizens of the Republic of Moldova want our state to become a member of the EU, because all the citizens want peace here in the Republic of Moldova, maybe only with the exception of a few Kremlin minions, but by and large, the vast majority of our citizens want peace. The EU, first of all, is a peace project and so we can strengthen peace and can ensure peace by joining the EU,” stated Maia Sandu.