The European Parliament has adopted a resolution calling for the acceleration of negotiations on Moldova’s accession to the European Union, including the opening of chapter-by-chapter talks, Deschide reported on September 10.

The motion, co-initiated by Romanian MEP Siegfried Mureșan, received 490 votes in favour, 65 against and 86 abstentions. The resolution also calls for an increase in financial and technical assistance to Moldova to strengthen its resilience against pressure and hybrid attacks from the Russian Federation.

“The safety of the European Union depends on the safety of Moldova. The people of Moldova are not alone in the face of this aggression; the European Union stands with them,” said Mureșan, who serves as president of the European Parliament Delegation for relations with the Republic of Moldova.

The adopted document states that Moldova has “demonstrated that it is ready to take the next step”, citing reforms undertaken by the authorities in Chișinău despite external threats. It highlights the need for EU support to help Moldova counter disinformation, electoral interference and destabilisation efforts attributed to Russia.

According to Mureșan, Moscow has allocated the equivalent of 1% of Moldova’s gross domestic product to activities including disinformation campaigns, electoral bribery and the illicit financing of pro-Russian parties. These efforts, he said, are aimed at undermining Moldova’s parliamentary elections scheduled for September 28.

“Russia is using new methods of destabilisation every day, including through the use of artificial intelligence,” Mureșan added.

Moldovan President Maia Sandu has argued that the country’s accession process should be decoupled from that of Ukraine. “The accession process is merit-based. This is written in all the documents, and no one says that two or three countries have to go at the same speed,” she stated in August.

EU member states were expected to vote on opening negotiations with Moldova on the first cluster of chapters on September 1, following a meeting of foreign ministers from the 27 member countries. The simultaneous opening of negotiations with Moldova and Ukraine, considered “coupled” in the process, was initially planned for the first half of the year. Hungary, however, vetoed the move, citing concerns over the rights of the Hungarian-speaking minority in Ukraine.

In April, discussions took place on whether to decouple the two countries to allow Moldova to advance. European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos later confirmed that both remain linked in the accession track.

The EU is now considering the possibility of overturning Hungary’s veto once Denmark assumes the presidency of the European Council, with Copenhagen pledging to apply pressure on Budapest to enable negotiations with Ukraine, IPN reported in mid-August.