The Government later this week could transmit the responses to the questions from the second questionnaire based on which the European Commission will assess the situation in the Republic of Moldova, said President Maia Sandu. According to the official, Chisinau does not expect to be done favors in the European integration process and is ready to assume full responsibility on this path. Sandu noted there is no competition in the process of obtaining the candidate country status between Moldova and Ukraine and Kyiv deserves to be privileged in his regard, IPN reporters.
President Maia Sandu said it matters less whether Moldova gets the candidate country status at the June EU summit or later. What counts is that the European integration process started and became irreversible. Ukraine deserves to be the EU’s favorite in this process for its fighting for the freedom of the whole Europe.
“Ukraine now fights not only for its freedom, but also for the freedom of the free world and it deserves to be given additional points for the sacrifice it makes. The Republic of Moldova should be part of the European family. We do not say that we need to skip particular stages. We assume the process as it is. We believe in meritocracy and each country should be assessed according to merits. For Ukraine, it is better if the Republic of Moldova is part of the EU and for us it is better if Ukraine accedes. I do not see a competition here. But I believe that Ukraine should indeed receive additional points for what it does,” Maia Sandu stated in the program “Emphasis on Today” on TVR Moldova channel.
President Sandu said that a large team of functionaries and civil society experts helped fill out the two questionnaires received from the European Commission. Also, Romania was the one that offered Moldova expertise in completing the questionnaires.
“Most probably this week, the Government will pass on the responses to the second questionnaire. These questionnaires will present a picture of the situation in the Republic of Moldova. The European Commission will assess the state of affairs and will formulate a recommendation. We were glad to see the vote in the European Parliament that supports us. But the European Parliament is not the only one. There are ore institutions that take decisions, such as the European Commission, the European Council. It won’t be easy. For the second questionnaire, we invited a team from Romania. Romania has wide-ranging experience as it covered these processes and we are grateful to it for lending us a hand,” stated the official.
On May 5, the European Parliament adopted a resolution whereby it requests the member states to offer the Republic of Moldova the candidate country status. By the resolution, the European Parliament also asks the European institutions to offer financial support to the Republic of Moldova in the form of new macro-financial assistance.
