In a resolution adopted on Wednesday, MEPs say EU membership for Moldova would be a geostrategic investment in a united and strong Europe. They note the EU accession negotiations with Moldova must start by the end of 2023, following the fulfillment of the nine steps identified by the European Commission. They also say fugitive oligarchs must be extradited to Moldova and the EU must continue to support Moldova in achieving energy independence, IPN reports.
MEP Siegfried Mureșan said the accession to the EU is wanted by the citizens of the Republic of Moldova and the Moldovan authorities the past year have worked a lot on this desideratum, making important progress in doing the necessary reforms. The Russian Federation wants to hamper this process and therefore tries by all methods to destabilize the situation in the country and to thwart the European course of the Republic of Moldova.
“We requested the European Commission to swiftly transfer to the Republic of Moldova the rest of the funds of the €150 million in Macro-financial Assistance approved in 2022 and the €105 million in budget support announced by the European Commission in November 2022. We also expect the Commission to swiftly propose the new package of support measures for the Republic of Moldova that was requested by the European Council last month. At the same time, we, the European Parliament, are in the process of approving new Macro-financial Assistance totaling €145 million for Moldova, which the European Commission proposed at the end of November,” stated Siegfried Mureșan.
To increase the support for Moldova, the European Parliament asked to strengthen the EU Support Hub in Moldova, including by raising the financial allocations for this hub and by creating a sanctions regime against the oligarchs who, alongside the Russian Federation, aim to destabilize Moldova.
“We also want to help the Republic of Moldova by intensifying the commercial relations with the European Union and by fully opening the European market to the Moldovan products and services. That’s why we ask to fully liberalize trade between the European Union and Moldova and to gradually integrate the Republic of Moldova into the EU common market. By swiftly adopting these commercial measures, we will make sure that the citizens of the Republic of Moldova faster feel the benefits of the European integration, before the accession to the European Union itself,” noted the MEP.
The text was adopted by 555 votes in favor, 49 against with 26 abstentions.
