The European Commission’s recommendation to open the accession negotiations marks a new stage in Moldova’s relationship with the European Union and today is a very important day for the country, said Deputy Premier Nicu Popescu, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, IPN reports.

According to Nicu Popescu, the European Commission’s recommendation is a powerful signal of support for the country’s European objective and also recognition of the substantial progress made by Moldova after obtaining the EU candidate status in June 2022: successful implementation of the EU recommendations; continuous reforms that contributed to the development of the rule of law and strengthening the administrative capacity, energy independence; an active foreign policy with a high level of alignment with the EU messages and many others.

“From this day, we will continue work with the member states of the European Union, the European Commission so as to prepare our country for negotiations. The working groups were already constituted and we are in the middle of the self-assessment of the approximation of the national legislation with the Community acquis,” Nicu Popescu posted in social media.

On November 8, the European Commission recommended opening the accession negotiations with Moldova. The announcement was made by the President of the European Commission Union Ursula von der Leyen, who presented the EU’s Enlargement Report. A final decision on the opening of negotiations with Moldova will be taken by the member states at the December 14-15 meeting of the European Council.